Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2018 Strangers at Home: Re/Presenting Intersectional Identities in Contemporary Caribbean Latina Narratives Jennifer Erin Irish Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES STRANGERS AT HOME: RE/PRESENTING INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITIES IN CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN LATINA NARRATIVES By JENNIFER E. IRISH A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 © Jennifer E. Irish Jennifer E. Irish defended this dissertation on February 22, 2018. The members of the supervisory committee were: Delia Poey Professor Directing Dissertation Virgil Suárez University Representative José Gomariz Committee Member Jeannine Murray-Román Committee Member Peggy Sharpe Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This dissertation is dedicated to Mary Ann Whaley, my grandmother and one of my best friends, a woman whose strength, compassion, and love know no bounds. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not be possible without the unwavering support of my committee members, the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, my peers, friends, and family. First, I owe a large debt of gratitude to Dr. Delia Poey, who encouraged me to believe in my own voice while providing constructive feedback throughout the entire research and writing process. She has played an invaluable role in making me the scholar that I am and will be. Dr. Peggy Sharpe’s compassion, dedication, and knowledge are without limit, and her support has been indispensable throughout my time at Florida State University. Thank you to Dr. José Gomariz, Dr. Jeannine Murray-Román, and Dr. Juan Carlos Galeano for your support, your knowledge regarding Latin American and Caribbean, diasporic, and other theoretical approaches that have been essential to this project, and for helping prepare me to be a researcher in today’s field. Professor Virgil Suárez has also provided me with great feedback and his knowledge of the Latinx literary market has had an important role in the development of this dissertation. In addition to helping me prepare for the job market, Dr. Matt Goldmark and Dr. Raquel Albarrán have also helped me conceptualize this project from new perspectives and I am grateful for their insight. In addition, I would like to thank the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics for providing me with the support and resources necessary to carry out this study. I would also like to thank my parents, sister and brother-in-law, grandmother, Scarlet, my dog, Joshua, and friends for providing constant support throughout my educational career. To my close friends and sisters, Jamie, Carolina, Sadhana, Stephanie, Laura, and Merry Beth, thank you for sharing moments of joy, worry, and sadness. The unconditional love that all of you have shown me has been the greatest motivator, and I hope that I have made you proud. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE – SITUATING THE HISPANIC CARIBBEAN DIASPORA WITHIN THE REALM OF LATINA/O STUDIES ...............................................................................................9 CHAPTER TWO – CONFOUNDING CUBAN AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM: HUMOR AS RESISTANCE AND REVISION IN ACHY OBEJAS’ MEMORY MAMBO AND JENNINE CAPÓ CRUCET’S HOW TO LEAVE HIALEAH ..........................................................................34 CHAPTER THREE – BODIES THAT SPEAK: RESISTING NORMATIVE DEFINITIONS OF DOMINICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY IN LOIDA MARITZA PÉREZ’S GEOGRAPHIES OF HOME AND ANGIE CRUZ’S SOLEDAD ...................................................................................67 CHAPTER FOUR – RADICAL BODIES AND VOICES OF DIFFERENCE: U.S. PUERTO RICAN WOMEN’S HUMOR AND EXCESS IN ERIKA LÓPEZ’S FLAMING IGUANAS AND GIANNINA BRASCHI’S YO-YO BOING! ...................................................................................99 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................133 Notes ............................................................................................................................................136 References ....................................................................................................................................140 Biographical Sketch .....................................................................................................................147 v ABSTRACT Understanding and defining nation and identity in diaspora has long characterized the cultural production of Caribbean authors. Notwithstanding, Hispanic Caribbean authors that have emigrated to the United States face this question doubly as they form part of what is labeled the Latino community. While much of the Latino Studies groundwork began in Mexican American or Chicano literary circles, whose cultural background is vastly different from that of the Hispanic Caribbean, authors of Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican descent have brought new perspectives to constructions of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation to the broadly named “Latino/a” experience. While much of the early theoretical and literary work was written by men, women writers began to produce prolifically in the late twentieth century. The first voices to be published in mass were primarily those of a privileged existence, coming from families of higher social classes within the Latino community, despite being marginalized within the context of the United States. During the late 1970s to early 1990s, literary production established that being Cuban American, Dominican American, and Puerto Rican in the mainland U.S. meant being light-skinned, heterosexual, and of middle to upper-class economic status. However, during the mid-to-late 1990s and early twenty-first century, new voices came to the forefront to challenge these hegemonic constructions of Caribbean Latina identity that dominated the cultural imaginary and, instead, presented intersectional protagonists who consistently face discrimination based on their gender, sexual orientation, race, and economic class both in and outside of the Latino community. By utilizing diverse strategies of resistance, such as humor, these authors, including Achy Obejas, Jennine Capó-Crucet, Loida Maritza Pérez, Angie Cruz, Giannina Braschi, and Erika López, highlight and satirize the normative aspects of the Hispanic Caribbean diasporic cultural imaginary that marginalizes and/or excludes the voices and vi experiences of their characters as being representative of Caribbean Latina identity. In this sense, these authors not only represent a marginalized perspective of identity within the Latino community, but they also re-present, as in presenting anew, a more diverse image of Latina identity in the twenty-first century that departs from the homogenous, normative image of Caribbean Latinas played out in earlier narratives of identity from the early-1990s Latina literary boom. vii INTRODUCTION Re/Presenting Caribbean Latina Identities: Creating a Space for Diverse Voices Through Humor and Performance The history of the Latin American diaspora in the United States is well-documented, with its roots in the 19th Century, as many prominent figures exiled themselves in burgeoning industrial cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Despite this long history, it is not until the middle to late 20th Century, during the onset of the Civil Rights Movement, that debates around Latin American diasporic identity came to the forefront of both social and academic research. As the question of discrimination against non-Anglos entered the consciousness of American society both politically and culturally, minority communities in the U.S. sought unity through shared beliefs, culture, and experiences, which eventually shaped what is now known as Latino identity. While Chicana/o refers specifically to those whose ancestors have roots in the U.S. states that formerly comprised Mexican territories, the term “Latina/o” is now used to refer to anyone of Latin American heritage,1 including those of Hispanic Caribbean and Central and South American descent. As Mexican American and Chicana/o activists in the west began to make waves regarding social reform, Puerto Ricans in the east did the same, demanding equal treatment and opportunities. In the 1960s and 1970s, in terms of cultural production, works such as Y no se lo tragó la tierra… by Tomás Rivera and works of “teatro campesino” from Luis Valdez highlighted the cultural divisions and societal challenges of Mexican-Americans and Chicanas/os, and Puerto Rican or “Nuyorican” works such as Piri Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets and Nicholasa Mohr’s Nilda achieved similar recognition. Despite contributions from Afro-Latina/o writers like Thomas and Mohr, the image of Latinos has been largely white- washed, excluding voices of those with