Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2016 Between Coloniality And Transmodernity:latino/a Fictional Responses To U.s. Interventionism In Latin America Dolly Reina Tittle Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Latin American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Tittle, Dolly Reina, "Between Coloniality And Transmodernity:latino/a Fictional Responses To U.s. Interventionism In Latin America" (2016). Wayne State University Dissertations. Paper 1489. This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. BETWEEN COLONIALITY AND TRANSMODERNITY: LATINO/A FICTIONAL RESPONSES TO U.S. INTERVENTIONISM IN LATIN AMERICA by DOLLY R. TITTLE DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2016 MAJOR: MODERN LANGUAGES (Spanish) Approved By: __________________________________ Advisor Date ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ © COPYRIGHT BY DOLLY R. TITTLE 2016 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my husband, Joaquín R. Tittle, whose love, support, and encouragement me impulsaron para llegar a la recta final. To mi hijo, Lucas, y mi hija, Luisa for inspiring me to work hard every day and for giving me many moments of true joy. And finally, to the memory of mi abuelo Benja who loved to study, and loved to learn, and had a book in his office for each question I had, including one of the novels in this study. Thank you for all the lessons you taught me, mi adorado abuelo. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking my thesis director, Víctor Figueroa, who guided me throughout this journey with patience and grace. Thank you for sharing your admirable intellect and expertise, for challenging me with insightful comments, and most of all thank you for your kindness, mil gracias. I would like to thank the members of my committee, Eugenia Casielles, Leisa Kauffmann, and Jorge Chinea for generously sharing your time, interest, knowledge, and carefully looking at my work in order to improve it. I also would like to thank my Graduate Adviser, Professor Michael Giordano who as the first contact in the graduate program instilled in me the idea that this goal was attainable. I would like to thank the professors whose thought provoking courses motivated me to keep investigating. For example, the one little credit linguistic cognate course with Eugenia Casielles resulted in one of the hightlights of my student career in the Humanities Center. Helene Weldt-Basson’s Bilingual Literature course led me to some of the novels in my work. Margaret Winters’ challenging Philology course sparked my interested in the subject of Spanglish. Donald Haasse inspired me to present my work with confidence. Victor Figueroa’s Spanish Literary Criticism provided the theoretical foundation of my work. I am thankful for the faculty in the Department of Classical Modern Languages Literatures and Cultures who are truly the best students’ cheerleaders. I am thankful for an environment that provides inspiring professors, an accessible Chair of the Department— thank you Anne Duggan, supportive staff – thank you, Amanda and Gerry, and Esperanza (wherever you are in Bolivia), friendly custodians like Jacqueline Adams, and a helpful team at the FLTC— thank you Pam, Dean, Sangeetha, student workers, and Bruce in our memories. iii Moreover, I have had the privilege to work with an amazing group of colleagues who go above and beyond to be encouraging, and selfless, and really put the “sister” and “brother” in the “hood” (sisterhood/brotherhood). I would like to especially and enthusiastically thank Paula Oliva Fiori for her incessant encouragement, to Jackie Moeller for her uplifting support, to Sara Wiercinski for her steadfast optimism, to Roxana Zuniga for her wise counsel, to Bruce fox for cheering me on, and to Eglee Rodriguez for being my virtual writing partner. I am also grateful to Cathy Barrette, Luisa Quintero, and Talia Weltman-Cisneros for being professional mentors. To Elsa De La Torre, Eyda Vaughn, Roshawnda Derrick, Colleen Grant, Erika Lile, Jesus Contreras, Michael Anderson, Fátima Ferreira, César Reyes, and Juana Lidia (in heaven), thank you for your wonderful friendship. You all have validated my many roles (mother/student/teacher/wife). These friends have become my Wayne State family. I’m also grateful for my students who are always teaching me new lessons. There are people who are not present like my abuelita Lucy, my brother, Rey Acosta, my Michigan brother Chuck Mosher, my father and mother in law, Jack and Mei-Ling Tittle, my motivational coach Devon Donohue, members of my church, First Baptist Church of Ypsilanti, and women from Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) who are all praying for me right now and I am grateful for their love and support. To my family who is present: Mami your perseverance, Luisy your unconditional love, Lucas your compassionate heart, Luisa, your thoughtfulness, Lori, your consistent friendship, I thank you for seeing me run this marathon and for being here at the finish line. To Joaquín, you are my love and greatest supporter, you never stop believing I could do this, gracias, there is no way I could do this without you. Finally, I would like to acknowledge God (Father/Son/Holy Spirit) who has strengthened me and included my dissertation in the “all” when He said, “with God all things are possible.” iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Authors and Synopsis of Novels ................................................................................................. 2 A Brief History of U.S. Interventionism in Latin America ...................................................... 11 U.S. Interventionism, Strategies of Decolonization, and the Role of Language ...................... 14 Transmodern Project, Border Thinking, and the Novels .......................................................... 17 Thesis Overview ....................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL U.S. INTERVENTIONISM AND ITS REPRESENTATIONS IN THE NOVELS OF MATTA, SANTIAGO, CISNEROS, AND DÍAZ ........................................ 31 U.S. Interventionism and the Four Doctrines ........................................................................... 33 The Monroe Doctrine and Mexico ............................................................................................ 36 Coloniality of Power in the U.S. ............................................................................................... 38 Historical Events Presented in Caramelo or Puro Cuento ....................................................... 43 Caramelo or Puro Cuento and Transmodern Literature........................................................... 46 The Monroe Doctrine and Puerto Rico ..................................................................................... 52 The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and Puerto Rico.......................................... 60 Historical Events Presented in The Americano ......................................................................... 62 Historical Events Presented in América’s Dream ..................................................................... 68 The Good Neighbor Policy and the Dominican Republic ........................................................ 71 The Johnson Doctrine and the Dominican Republic ................................................................ 77 Historical Events Presented in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao .................................. 79 Re-Writing History: A Strategy of Decolonization .................................................................. 82 CHAPTER 3: COSMOLOGIES AND SPIRITUALITY: A TRANSMODERN RESPONSE TO U.S. INTERVENTIONISM IN CARAMELO OR PURO CUENTO AND THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO .......................................................................................... 88 Spiritual Decolonization and Liberation ................................................................................... 89 Religion, Spirituality, and the Curse ......................................................................................... 93 Latino/a Spirituality in the U.S. and Spiritual Mestizaje ........................................................ 102 Spritiuality in Cisneros’ Novel: Blended Beliefs in Mexico, Inherited Trauma, and In- Betweeness .............................................................................................................................. 107 v Spirituality in Díaz’s Novel: Caribbean Curse and Counter-spell .......................................... 126 CHAPTER 4: FROM A SENSE OF DISQUIET TO VIOLENCE: THE “CHAOS WORLD” IN THE AMERICANO