Writing Off the Hyphen
New Critical Perspectives on the Literature of the Puerto Rican Diaspora
Published on 12. May 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-295-98824-5 (ISBN)
Description
The sixteen essays in Writing Off the Hyphen approach the literature of the Puerto Rican diaspora from current theoretical positions, with provocative and insightful results. The authors analyze how the diasporic experience of Puerto Ricans is played out in the context of class, race, gender, and sexuality and how other themes emerging from postcolonialism and postmodernism come into play. Their critical work also demonstrates an understanding of how the process of migration and the relations between Puerto Rico and the United States complicate notions of cultural and national identity as writers confront their bilingual, bicultural, and transnational realities.
The collection has considerable breadth and depth. It covers earlier, undertheorized writers such as Luisa Capetillo, Pedro Juan Labarthe, Bernardo Vega, Pura Belpre, Arturo Schomburg, and Graciany Miranda Archilla. Prominent writers such as Rosario Ferre and Judith Ortiz Cofer are discussed alongside often-neglected writers such as Honolulu-based Rodney Morales and gay writer Manuel Ramos Otero. The essays cover all the genres and demonstrate that current theoretical ideas and approaches create exciting opportunities and possibilities for the study of Puerto Rican diasporic literature.
The collection has considerable breadth and depth. It covers earlier, undertheorized writers such as Luisa Capetillo, Pedro Juan Labarthe, Bernardo Vega, Pura Belpre, Arturo Schomburg, and Graciany Miranda Archilla. Prominent writers such as Rosario Ferre and Judith Ortiz Cofer are discussed alongside often-neglected writers such as Honolulu-based Rodney Morales and gay writer Manuel Ramos Otero. The essays cover all the genres and demonstrate that current theoretical ideas and approaches create exciting opportunities and possibilities for the study of Puerto Rican diasporic literature.
Reviews / Votes
"Writing Off the Hyphen offers depth and insight on the theory and critical approaches for understanding the complexity of the Puerto Rican diaspora from a broad range of perspectives. It covers a variety of topics and serves as a starting point for critical discussions on Puerto Rican literature from a historical and literary standpoint. This volume belongs in all academic library collections. It is a key resource for Puerto Rican literature and culture courses, and for understanding Puerto Rican diasporic literature."(Multicultural Review)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-98824-5 (9780295988245)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jose L. Torres-Padilla is associate professor of English, State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Carmen Haydee Rivera is associate professor of English, University of Puerto Rico.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Literature of the Puerto Rican Diaspora and Its Critical Practice / Jose L. Torres-Padilla and Carmen Haydee Rivera
PART I: Earlier Voices
1. Evolving Identities: Early Puerto Rican Writing in the United States and the Search for New Puertorriquenidad / Jose M. Irizarry Rodriguez
2. For the Sake of Love: Luisa Capetillo, Anarchy, and Boricua Literary History / Lisa Sanchez Gonzalez
3. When "I" Became Ethnic: Ethnogenesis and Three Early Puerto Rican Diaspora Writers / Jose L. Torres-Padilla
PART II: Political and Historical
4. Anarchism in the Work of Aurora Levins Morales / Ferda Asya
5. Puerto Rican Literature in a New Clave: Notes on the Emergence of DiaspoRican / William Burgos
6. The Political Left and the Development of Nuyorican Poetry / Trenton Hickman
PART III: Identity and Place
7. Literary Tropicalizations of the Barrio: Ernesto Quinonez's Bodega Dreams and Ed Vega's Mendoza's Dreams / Antonia Dominguez Miguela
8. Discordant Differences: Strategic Puerto Ricanness in Pedro Pietri's Puerto Rican Obituary / Victor Figueroa
9. "Borinkee" in Hawai'i: Rodney Morales Rides the Diaspora Wave to Transregional Imperial Struggle / Maritza Stanchich
10: Tato Laviera's Parody of La carreta: Reworking a Tradition of Docility / John Waldron
PART IV: Home
11. Writing Home: Mapping Puerto Rican Collective Memory in The House on the Lagoon / Kelli Lyon Johnson
12. Translating "Home" in the Work of Judith Ortez Cofer / Joanna Barszewska Marshall
13. Getting There and Back: The Road, the Journey, and Home in Nuyorican Diaspora Literature / Solimar Otero
PART V: Gender
14. Identity of the "Diasporican" Homosexual in the Literary Periphery / Enrique Morales- Diaz
15. Manuel Ramos Otero's Queer Metafictional Resurrection of Julia de Burgos / Betsy A. Sandlin
16. Subverting the Mainland: Transmigratory Biculturalism in U.S. Puerto Rican Women's Fiction / Mary Jane Suero-Elliott
Contributors
Index
Introduction: The Literature of the Puerto Rican Diaspora and Its Critical Practice / Jose L. Torres-Padilla and Carmen Haydee Rivera
PART I: Earlier Voices
1. Evolving Identities: Early Puerto Rican Writing in the United States and the Search for New Puertorriquenidad / Jose M. Irizarry Rodriguez
2. For the Sake of Love: Luisa Capetillo, Anarchy, and Boricua Literary History / Lisa Sanchez Gonzalez
3. When "I" Became Ethnic: Ethnogenesis and Three Early Puerto Rican Diaspora Writers / Jose L. Torres-Padilla
PART II: Political and Historical
4. Anarchism in the Work of Aurora Levins Morales / Ferda Asya
5. Puerto Rican Literature in a New Clave: Notes on the Emergence of DiaspoRican / William Burgos
6. The Political Left and the Development of Nuyorican Poetry / Trenton Hickman
PART III: Identity and Place
7. Literary Tropicalizations of the Barrio: Ernesto Quinonez's Bodega Dreams and Ed Vega's Mendoza's Dreams / Antonia Dominguez Miguela
8. Discordant Differences: Strategic Puerto Ricanness in Pedro Pietri's Puerto Rican Obituary / Victor Figueroa
9. "Borinkee" in Hawai'i: Rodney Morales Rides the Diaspora Wave to Transregional Imperial Struggle / Maritza Stanchich
10: Tato Laviera's Parody of La carreta: Reworking a Tradition of Docility / John Waldron
PART IV: Home
11. Writing Home: Mapping Puerto Rican Collective Memory in The House on the Lagoon / Kelli Lyon Johnson
12. Translating "Home" in the Work of Judith Ortez Cofer / Joanna Barszewska Marshall
13. Getting There and Back: The Road, the Journey, and Home in Nuyorican Diaspora Literature / Solimar Otero
PART V: Gender
14. Identity of the "Diasporican" Homosexual in the Literary Periphery / Enrique Morales- Diaz
15. Manuel Ramos Otero's Queer Metafictional Resurrection of Julia de Burgos / Betsy A. Sandlin
16. Subverting the Mainland: Transmigratory Biculturalism in U.S. Puerto Rican Women's Fiction / Mary Jane Suero-Elliott
Contributors
Index