Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4190. Adviser: Dara Goldman. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

This dissertation presents a study of the poetry of Jose Joaquin Perez. His writings formulate an aesthetic, national and social program. From this perspective, descriptive poetry and pro-Amerindian poetry are analyzed as poetic discourse which represents the founding of a nation and of a poetic art form for literature. These aspects are analyzed as a function of poetic agents which represent national themes and language. These themes and this language have been highlighted by critics as the factors which define these writings. At the same time, the progressive lyric of Perez is analyzed as a discourse which reflects a social program for a nation. This stems from the interpretations the poet makes of positivist doctrines of his time. The first chapter presents the literary enclaves which frame Jose Joaquin Perez's poetry. The study focuses on an analysis of Santo Domingo's Romantic lyric, paying close attention to its most recurrent themes. Here, the most representative writers of this type of discourse are also presented. In addition, the dissertation focuses on extant criticism on the poet's work and Perez's own literary criticism. Chapters two and three present the theoretical framework for analyzing the texts. Chapter two pays special attention to the tradition of foundational and programmatic characters of Romantic lyric of Spanish-America. Here, the concept of Romanticism, as it is used in this work, is defined. Also highlighted are the critics who have studied this tradition, followed by an explanation based on themes and ideas. This helps explain the foundational writing that descriptive and pro-Amerindian poets of this period have developed. Also in this chapter, the interpretations of the positivist doctrine in Spanish-America are presented, as well as the social character of Spanish-American Romanticism. The third chapter elaborates on the language factors that Angloamerican and Spanish-American criticism have determined to be agents in foundational writings. In chapter four, the poems of Jose Joaquin Perez are analyzed, based on that which has been proposed in this dissertation. Chapter five contains the conclusions of this work.

Maria Luisa Puga y Rosario Ferre como escritoras latinoamericanas comprometen su labor literaria como un vehiculo para articular un discurso descolonizador. Sus narrativas llevaran al lector por mundos y periodos tan diversos como similares, ya que parten de la misma hipotesis de trabajo, a decir, recordar que la realidad latinoamericana es una resultante de un proceso colonizador. Su narrativa utiliza estrategicamente la fragmentacion discursiva y la incorporacion del discurso testimonial para crear una apertura simbolica en el fenomeno de la colonizacion. Para el estudio de sus obras se han tomado en cuenta conceptos marxistas (Eagleton, Jameson) para establacer realciones entre lo politico/economico y el devenir social e individual, que se extienden hasta la polemica de los derechos humanos (Vidal). Puga en Las posibilidades del odio presenta una serie de personajes kenianos, cuyas vidas atestiguan los cambios que la colonizacion les trajera, asi como la desolacion en que se encuentran tras luchas internas por su determinacion nacional. De estos, la joven Nyambura ocupa un lugar predominate en la narrativa, y es a traves de su historia familiar y personal que se incurre en el acto simbolico de liberacion. Rosario Ferre en Maldito amor lleva al lector por un recorrido historico en la vida de Puerto Rico. La familia De la Valle personifica y establece el borde dentro del cual se circunscribe la experiencia colinizante del pais, siendo dos mujeres mulatas, Titina y Gloria, las que al final estan por quemar todo signo de traicion, de explotacion economica y de discriminacion racial. El discurso decolonizante femenino y de lo femenino que se desprende por la lectura es uno en que el Sujeto, al politizarse, se posesiona del lenguaje para describir el asombro, la violencia y la perplejidad de la fuerza colonizadora ante la lucha del Sujeto por su reinvindicacion social y por sus derechos humanos. Puga y Ferre, como escritoras latinoamericanas, se inscriben en la tradicion de un contra-discurso (Cunningham) que refiere a un cambio cualitativo de su insercion y participacion en la Historia. i

El tema de esta disertación, La poética del bolero en Cuba y Puerto Rico, es el resultado de nuestro interés por contestarnos algunas preguntas que por muchos años quisimos responder, aunque sus respuestas parecían evidentes para los estudios formales de la literatura cubana y la puertorriqueña. La pregunta generalizada era: ¿cuáles son los lazos culturales que unen las historias de Cuba y Puerto Rico? Las respuestas parecían encontrarse en la literatura y en la música. Es por esto que esta disertación resultó ser de carácter interdisciplinario al proponernos estudiar el género del “bolero” como fenómeno cultural poético-musical. El bolero resultó la excusa para asomarnos tanto a la historia de la literatura y la música cubana como puertorriqueña en busca de sus orígenes y desarrollo y con la intención de observar si de verdad exiten esos lazos culturales y cuáles son. Es por esto que el capítulo II pretende hacer un estudio minucioso sobre el Romanticismo en ambas islas. En éste establecemos cuáles son las poetas y músicos fundacionales en ambas naciones, sus estilos y sus propósitos. Sin pretender entrar en comparaciones vamos descubriendo los puntos de contacto que comienzan a enlazar culturalmente a ambas islas en los que el interés por definir “la nación” es el temas principal. La lucha por la definición, reafirmación y liberación nacional fue el motivo que generó muchos encuentros poéticos y musicales durante el siglo XIX. En el capítulo III repetimos la metodología del primero para estudiar el origen, desarrollo y culminación del movimiento Modernista en ambas naciones. Es en éste en el que desarrollamos el tema del bolero con más detalle porque es justo en este período de la historicidad de ambas naciones cuando el bolero alcanza su madurez. Con el objetivo de delinear los rasgos románticos o modernistas del bolero examinamos las letras de los boleros de los compositores más significativos, siguiendo el orden cronológico-historicista que la metodología de la investigación supone. El capítulo IV está dedicado a la aportación de las mujeres cubanas y puertorriqueñas tanto en el quehacer poético como musical-bolerístico. La mirada filosófica de este estudio intenta acercarse a los postulados que Gilles Deleuze asume en algunos de sus textos.

During the latter part of the 19th century, the Peruvian writer Ricardo Palma's Tradiciones peruanas, and the Cuban writer Julian del Casal's literary criticism, were widely read by many Latin Americans. Yet, some one hundred years later, Palma's work would be generally ignored by literary critics, though it would continue to be read and enjoyed by the general public. Del Casal's literary criticism would be completely forgotten, and the author himself would come to be viewed as an apolitical, anti-Cuban, escapist who accepted his country's colonial status without protesting. The present work constitutes a reevaluation of Palma's work and of del Casal's literary criticism, as well as of the latter's political involvement. A reading of Palma's Tradiciones peruanas based on the reading of Francois Rabelais' work carried out by Mikhail Bakhtin in his book Rabelais and His World, demonstrates that literary critics have been unjust with Palma by judging his work according to the canons and esthetics of refined, written literature, when in fact that work was meant to be popular, oral literature, with totally different literary characteristics and a totally different esthetic. Thus, the "defects" perceived by literary critics in Palma's work are really qualities and characteristics of popular, orally-oriented literature. Likewise, a reading of del Casal's "lost" critical prose, finally reedited in 1963 by the Cuban National Culture Council, demonstrates that he was very proud of being Cuban, much more political than is generally thought, and a patriot who risked his welfare by protesting his country's colonial condition. It also shows the excellence of his incisive and prophetic, modernist, literary criticism which called attention to the works of many new Latin American authors and made known to Latin Americans some of the most important European writers of his day.

<p> Esta tesis doctoral gira en torno a las medidas disciplinarias que se establecieron antes, durante y despu&eacute;s del embate de la epidemia de c&oacute;lera en la ciudad amurallada de San Juan, Puerto Rico, entre los a&ntilde;os 1854 y 1856, con miras a resaltar las nociones del poder, biopol&iacute;tica, sanidad, higiene, marginaci&oacute;n y desarrollo urbano. El an&aacute;lisis exhaustivo de las Actas del Cabildo de la ciudad de San Juan fue fundamental para determinar cu&aacute;n preparadas estaban las autoridades civiles, militares y sanitarias durante el periodo de estudio. A trav&eacute;s de su revisi&oacute;n, se observa c&oacute;mo los cabilderos, atend&iacute;an el problema de la presencia de los boh&iacute;os en la Capital, considerados como focos de contagio y propagaci&oacute;n de enfermedades. Desde antes que llegara la epidemia de c&oacute;lera a San Juan, las autoridades buscaban la manera de eliminar los boh&iacute;os existentes dentro de la ciudad amurallada. El uso de una biopol&iacute;tica por las autoridades, enti&eacute;ndase como &ldquo;la pol&iacute;tica de la salud del pueblo&rdquo;, justificaron y se&ntilde;alaron que estas viviendas representaban ser un peligro para la poblaci&oacute;n sanjuanera. Algunos historiadores afirman que fallecieron aproximadamente 500 personas de diferentes &ldquo;castas&rdquo; en la ciudad de San Juan por el c&oacute;lera. Seg&uacute;n los datos obtenidos del Libro de Defunciones de la Catedral de San Juan los resultados son distintos. Toda persona fallecida por la epidemia de c&oacute;lera fue enterrada en fosas comunes llamadas cementerios colerientos. La hip&oacute;tesis planteada durante esta investigaci&oacute;n establece que la epidemia de c&oacute;lera fue el agente catal&iacute;tico para crear p&aacute;nico en la ciudad de San Juan y as&iacute; ejercer la presi&oacute;n necesaria para eliminar los boh&iacute;os y a los habitantes considerados como focos de enfermedades contagiosas.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1690. Adviser: Stanley O. Ikenberry. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 361-371) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain&rsquo;s colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere, and represented the symbolic pinnacle of U.S. imperialism throughout the Caribbean and the Pacific. During this historical juncture, the U.S. launched the invasion of Puerto Rico and established itself as the governing power. My analysis of this defining event in Puerto Rico&rsquo;s history focuses on the &lsquo;discursive&rsquo; and &lsquo;representational&rsquo; practices through which the dominant representations and interpretations of the Puerto Rican campaign were constructed. In revisiting the U.S. &lsquo;imperial texts&rsquo; of &rsquo;98, most of which have not been studied extensively, it is my intent to approach these narratives critically, studying their ideological and political significance regarding the U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico as a colony. </p><p> The &lsquo;War of &rsquo;98&rsquo; has been typically represented as an inter-metropolitan conflict, thus relegating to a secondary place the contestatory discourses produced within the colonies. It is the purpose of my dissertation to examine &lsquo;dialectically&rsquo; the cultural counter-discourse produced by the Puerto Rican Creole elite alongside the U.S. official discourses on Puerto Rico, concerning its colonial past under Spanish domination, the military occupation of the island, and its political and economical future under the American flag. With this purpose in mind, I chose to study four post-1898 Puerto Rican novels, specifically Jos&eacute; P&eacute;rez Losada&rsquo;s <i> La patulea</i> (1906) and <i>El manglar</i> (1907), and Ram&oacute;n Juli&aacute; Mar&iacute;n&rsquo;s <i>Tierra adentro</i> (1912) and <i> La gleba</i> (1913), all of which have been underestimated and understudied by literary scholars. </p><p> As a gesture of resistance in the face of the disruption of the old social order (that is, the old patterns of life, customs, traditions and standards of value) caused by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898, the island&rsquo;s intellectual elite&mdash;most of which were descendant of the displaced coffee <i>hacendado</i> families&mdash;responded by fabricating an ideology-driven national imaginary and iconography that proposed a hispanophile, nostalgic, and romanticized rendering of the late-19th century coffee landscape (i.e. the pre-invasion period) as an idyllic <i> locus amoenus</i>, thus becoming an emblem of national and cultural identity and values against American capitalist imperialism, the &lsquo;Americanization&rsquo; of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s economy and political system, and the rapid expansion of U.S. corporate sugar interests. </p><p> This dissertation has two distinct yet complementary purposes: first, it examines critically the imperial/colonial power relations between the United States and Puerto Rico since 1898, while questioning the hegemonic discourses both by the Americans and the Puerto Rican cultural elite regarding Puerto Rico&rsquo;s historical and political paths; secondly, it is an attempt to do justice to the literary works of two overlooked Puerto Rican novelists, approaching them critically on several levels (historical, literary, and ideological) and bringing their works out of the shadows and into today&rsquo;s renewed debates around Puerto Rico&rsquo;s unresolved colonial status and U.S. colonial practices still prevalent today.</p><p>

This study reveals the differences and similarities among U.S. Latino and Spanish American literatures. This is achieved through the juxtaposition and dialogue among Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban; Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory and Days of Obligation ; Rosario Castellano's Balún Canán, and Reinaldo Arenas' Antes que anochezca. In choosing texts from Mexico and Cuba we are seeking to reveal contrasts and links with the Chicano and Cuban-American narratives. Similarly, by selecting said texts and authors, there is a balance between issues of sexual gender and orientation, as well as in regards to the original language in which the texts were conceived. In their quest for identity from a marginal starting point, all four authors aim to create a response to hegemony. We approach these texts from the theoretical parameters of the studies of autobiography, with a special emphasis on Bildungsroman, since their protagonists see their self-formation as a process that would enable them to behave in a functional manner in the communities they are immersed. It is from this marginal position that values such as family and education question the power of traditional hegemony. Another element that subverts the establishment is the treatment of gender and sexuality in the texts. Since the protagonists' identity is conceived from a women's or a homosexual standpoint, traditional values are questioned. Finally, the analysis of the texts deals with their relationship to the imagined national space. Castellanos and Rodriguez approach the concept of nation though the indigenous question. Garcia and Arenas relate to Cuba by way of their comment on the Castrist Revolution. The different narratives of the self that make up this study place their voices in the intestitial space of the periphery. It is from that space that they address the center in a variety of ways.

In this study we examine the development of the female poetic voice in the Puerto Rican context. Taking from the theoretical frameworks of Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies and New Historicism we re-read the political, cultural and literary history of Puerto Rico and its relation to the construction of the representations of Woman in texts written by women as well as those by men. In the first chapter we analyze the weight of gender and history in the elaboration of general discourse. We point out how all texts speak from a particular gendered perspective and respond to a historically determined moment which requires critical analysis that takes into consideration these contextual phenomena. From here we begin to re-examine the development of the female poetic creation from the end of the nineteenth century to the 1930s. We study the change of sovereignty and the political, social and cultural impact that this had on the literature of Puerto Rico. Mainly, we look into the gestation of a political-literary discourse created by Puerto Rican intellectuals, who were at the same time, responsible for the political and cultural events of the island. The second chapter explores the creation of a new political project for Puerto Rico which begins in 1940s and culminates with the Commonwealth. In addition, we review the political projects of the Commonwealth which required the active participation of literature since it was through literature that a cultural nationalism would be built, a nationalism that would compensate for the lack of an independent political state. Concluding this second chapter, we re-examine the decades of the sixties and seventies, viewing them as a period of change and of social and political struggle. We study the gradual separation of the literary and political spaces, which allowed a more transgressive discourse as well as a more authentic female voice. The third chapter is a critical analysis of the female poetic voice through the twentieth century. Among the selected poets are: Clara Lair, Haydee Ramirez de Arellano, Marigloria Palma, Angelamaria Davila, Olga Nolla, Manuel Ramos Otero and Mayra Santos Febres.