Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 4-2014 Hacia un mapa ex-céntrico de lo afro-hispano: notas sobre un meta-archipiélago desbordado Brian J. Gunderson Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post- Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Gunderson, Brian J., "Hacia un mapa ex-céntrico de lo afro-hispano: notas sobre un meta-archipiélago desbordado" (2014). Dissertations. 244. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/244 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HACIA UN MAPA EX-CÉNTRICO DE LO AFRO-HISPANO: NOTAS SOBRE UN META-ARCHIPIÉLAGO DESBORDADO by Brian J. Gunderson A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Spanish Western Michigan University April 2014 Doctoral Committee: Antonio Isea, Ph.D., Chair Irma López, Ph.D. Michael Millar, Ph.D. Kristina Wirtz, Ph.D. HACIA UN MAPA EX-CÉNTRICO DE LO AFRO-HISPANO: NOTAS SOBRE UN META-ARCHIPIÉLAGO DESBORDADO Brian J. Gunderson, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2014 This project proposes a study of works from 20th and 21st Century Latin American Literature and its representation of “lo afro” (blackness). While most studies have focused on the Caribbean, I am interested in working with regions of Latin America that have a history of African heritage that has either been “whitewashed” or erased since the 19th Century creation of independent nations. The major areas studied are based loosely on Quince Duncan’s notion of the Caribe Continental (the continental Caribbean): Central America (Costa Rica and Honduras), Mexico, the Pacific Coast (Ecuador and Peru), and the Southern Cone (Uruguay and Argentina). Most studies to date work within the theoretical framework of “race” and “nation.” This project attempts to work with and then against these problematic notions in the following manner. First, it is important to identify and underscore the existence of an African influence and heritage in the national cultures. Second, most 20th Century works can be seen to “spatialize race and racialize space,” as Juliet Hooker postulates, and the works from this century are studied by looking at how the national symbols and discourse worked to isolate parts of the country and to assign them both a “race” and an extra-national space. Third, looking at works at the end of the 20th Century and from the 21st Century, the focus will turn to how these more contemporary novels are working against (or complementing previous works) the two popular notions of “race” and “nation” and will look at how studies of African heritage and culture in Latin America can move beyond these two categories to get at the cultural contributions of Afro-Latin Americans in regions that are considered predominantly mestizo (mixture of European and Indigenous descent). Copyright by Brian J. Gunderson 2014 ! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee, Dr. Irma López, Dr. Michael Millar and Dr. Kristina Wirtz, for taking time the time to read my chapters and help push me to improve my work. I know it takes a lot of hours to dedicate to one single project, and I appreciate everything that they have done, from start to finish, to help me in the preparation of my dissertation. I would like to especially thank my director, Dr. Isea, for all of his work, over the past seven years, in helping me to develop academically and professionally. My interest for this area of investigation can be traced back to my first graduate course I studied with Dr. Isea in 2006. Since then, he has continually challenged me and helped me to form this project from its infancy to its present state. The one person who kept me on track intellectually and also emotionally deserves much of the credit of this project being completed. My wife, María del Rosario Gunderson-Mejorada, has patiently stood by me and helped me to continue when I thought I couldn’t possibly sit down in my chair and write more. She’s loved me in spite of the time I’ve spent reading and writing, and has been my number one fan throughout all my years in graduate school. While this is a personal achievement for me to have written this dissertation, it is anything but an individual effort to have written something of this size. Rosario deserves the credit. She is my inspiration, she’s what has kept me moving forward, and she’s the reason I am presently submitting this dissertation for approval by the graduate school. My greatest thanks and love go to her for helping me through the most difficult times. I’d like to give a special thanks to my son Oscar Gunderson-Mejorada, for understanding when there were times I couldn’t stop writing and play ball or floor hockey. He, along with his mother and brother who is on the way, have been huge sources of motivation to complete this project, and I thank him with lots of love, hugs and wrestling to come. Lastly, I’d like to thank my parents. I don’t know if my father will be around to watch me defend and graduate. He’s been battling a terminal illness, and it has wreaked havoc on both of my parents over the last two years. He’s been hanging-on, asking me when I would graduate, hoping to see me walk across the stage before he leaves us. In the event that this should not come to pass, I’d like to honor my dad, James K. Gunderson, and dedicate this project to him, and to my mom, Patricia J. Gunderson, for everything they provided me over the years in helping to prepare me for my career in academia. Thank you for all that you have done, and I hope I can make you proud of your son, now and in the future. Brian J. Gunderson ! ""! TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………….……………………………………. ii CHAPTER Introducción …………………………………………………………………. 1 I. CENTROAMÉRICA COMO EL “OTRO” PUENTE ……......………....... 10 Introducción: Unas reflexiones sobre Centroamérica ………………….. 10 Reflexiones sobre dos conceptos: “raza” y “nación” …………………… 12 Costa Rica en su contexto histórico …………………………………….. 21 El caso de Honduras …………………………………………………….. 23 “Raza”, “nación”, y las novelas centroamericanas ……………………… 25 La mala educación de Cocorí …………………………………………… 26 Los barcos que van y vienen de la costa ………………………………... 33 Quince Duncan y el otro 1996: Afrorrealismo y Un señor de chocolate .. 39 “El garífuna” en Nueva York: notas sobre Big Banana ………………… 52 El gesto global en Un mensaje de Rosa …………………………………. 60 Reflexiones finales ………………………………………………………. 69 II. AFROMEXICANOS EN MOVIMIENTO DEL AFUERA ADENTRO …. 72 El contexto histórico de los afrodescendientes mexicanos ……………… 72 De la Colonia a la Independencia (1521-1821) ………………………….. 72 De la Independencia al fin de la Revolución mexicana (1822-1920) …… 74 1920-1968, La Revolución Cultural ……………………………………... 81 De 1969 al presente ……………………………………………………… 85 Re-imaginando Artemio Cruz …………………………………………… 87 Los Dos crímenes no cometidos por Marcos Gonzáles …………………. 94 2666, novela mexicana …………………………………………………... 102 Reflexiones finales ……………………………………………………… 123 ! """! Table of Contents–Continued III. EL PACÍFICO NEGRO ………………………………………………….. 125 De la República de Zambos a los macheteros esmeraldeños: Los afrodescendientes en el Ecuador ……………………………………… 126 Perú a la sombra de Cuzco …………………………………………… 138 La narrativa ecuatoriana-peruana de los siglos XX y XXI …………... 147 Ecuador desbordado: Juyungo a la deriva de lo “nacional” …………. 148 La transformación de “raza” en El último río ……………………….. 161 Los ríos profundos de Malambo ……………………………………... 173 IV. EL LADO OSCURO DEL CONO SUR ………………………………… 193 Introducción al Black Atlantic Porteño ……………………………… 193 Montevideo “blanco” entre un mar de afrodescendientes …………… 195 La “desaparición” de la tercera raíz argentina ………………………. 203 La educación de Pompeyo Amargo: El “doctor practicante” del conventillo ……………………………………………………… 211 Concepción Guillén, Sansón y el tacho argentino en Ese negro es un hombre ……………………………………………………….. 225 El desalojo de los afro-uruguayos en el teatro de finales del siglo XX 232 El centro versus el margen en El curandero del amor …………….. 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY .………………………………………………… 263 ENDNOTES ……………………………………………………….. 284 ! "#! Introducción A pesar de todo lo que ha sido publicado por los intelectuales latinoamericanos y extra-latinoamericanos sobre la existencia e importancia de la raíz africana en la composición de las naciones del subcontinente, esta parte integral de la cultura de Nuestra Américai ha sido escamoteado en el discurso oficial nacional. Entre las figuras afro-hispanas que han sufrido tal acto de desaparición podemos señalar a: Pedro Alonso Niño (uno de los primeros exploradores de herencia africana que llegó a las Américas), Gaspar Yanga (quien fundó el primer pueblo cimarrón en México en 1609), José María Morelos (líder revolucionario y sacerdote de México), Vicente Guerrero (presidente mexicano mulato que abolió la esclavitud), Joaquín Lenzina (hombre libre que fue asesor de José Gervacio Artigas en la guerra de independencia uruguaya), Bernardino Rivadavia (primer presidente de Argentina), Lorenzo Barcala (coronel argentino quien luchó en las guerras civiles de su país), El Rey Miguel (ex-esclavo