Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Teachers College, Columbia University, 1991. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Mordecai Rubin. Dissertation Committee: Lambros Comitas. Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-151).

Narratives of resisting the Trujillo regime are so prevalent in Dominican-American literature that it seems Dominican-American authors must write about Trujillo to be deemed authentically Dominican-American. Within these Trujillo narratives there seems to be two main ways to talk about resistance. “The resistance,” an organized entity that actively and consciously opposes the Trujillo regime, can be seen in stories like those told about the Mirabal sisters. The other resistance narrates how characters capitalize on opportunities to disrupt business or political functions, thus disrupting the Trujillo machine. This resistance works much like Ben Highmore's explanation of de Certeau's resistance in that “it limits flows and dissipates energies” (104). Characters from the socio-economic lower-class typically use this type of resistance because they are not recognized by nor allowed direct access to the regime. My thesis focuses on the latter type of resistance through my study of Angie Cruz's Let It Rain Coffee and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Both authors narrate instances of unrecognized resistance against Trujillo, but they also articulate modern resistance to economic, racial, and gender pressures, such as materialism and hyper-masculinity, through Trujillo narratives. While these narratives create a space for Dominican-Americans of different gender, class, and race, they also create Trujillo as a marker of Dominican literature, perpetuating the idea of Trujillo as inextricably connected to Dominican identity and obfuscating more complex issues of race and gender in Dominican culture.

Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (ruled 1930-1961) developed the reputation as one of the most violent and oppressive leaders of the Western Hemisphere in his thirty-one years of power. Authors Julia Alvarez and Mario Vargas Llosa provide insight into the effects of Trujillo's infamy by sharing the stories of Dominican women. In Alvarez's novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, the Dominican-American author fictionalizes the lives of the Mirabal sisters, historical women who were assassinated in 1961 for their involvement in the anti-Trujillo movement. Likewise, Vargas Llosa centers much of his novel, La fiesta del Chivo, on the life of Urania Cabral, a fictional female character who is raped by Trujillo at the age of fourteen. Both the Mirabals and Urania grow up amidst dictatorship and Alvarez and Vargas Llosa frequently focus on their characters' growth as they progress from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This formative time in the protagonists' lives is often impacted by Trujillo and his actions. In particular, Alvarez and Vargas Llosa emphasize the unique process of female identity formation as a means of highlighting the cruelty of the Trujillo dictatorship. Female development is often described as a process that focuses on connection and relationships to others. As a result, women often demonstrate a high ability to respond to the needs and feelings of the people in their lives. Alvarez's depiction of the Mirabal sisters reflects these principles as her characters mature into strong women by learning the value of selflessly caring for others. The Mirabals' concern for people contrasts to Trujillo's character, which Alvarez portrays as violent, selfish and petty. Conversely, Vargas Llosa's protagonist experiences a traumatic event at the age of fourteen that severely inhibits her growth. As a result of Trujillo's cruelty Urania loses her ability to connect with others and becomes cold and distant. Urania's developmental obstacles reflect the debilitating effects dictatorship can have on individuals, and by extension, on a whole nation. In both In the Time of the Butterflies and La fiesta del Chivo the concept of female development shapes and informs the portrayal of Rafael Trujillo and his corrupt government.

El propósito de este trabajo es investigar el personaje femenino y el papel que ocupa en dos novelas del subgénero novela del dictador. El predominio masculino es evidente tanto por lo que se refiere a los autores como a los protagonistas despóticos y el tema es poco tocado en la gran cantidad de aportes críticos sobre el subgénero. A través de un análisis de La fiesta del rey Acab (1959) de Enrique Lafourcade y La Fiesta del Chivo (2000) de Mario Vargas Llosa nos preguntamos si los personajes femeninos cumplen el papel esperado de subordinados a los hombres. Las novelas tienen como modelo el personaje histórico del dictador Rafael Trujillo y en la investigación enfocamos el retrato de su esposa y la relación entre ellos. A partir de nuestras ideas apoyadas por lo que sabemos mediante la literatura estudiada sobre el personaje femenino en el subgénero y sobre la situación de la mujer en tiempos de Trujillo, tratamos de comprobar la hipótesis del papel tradicional. Un papel sin mucho peso, en algunos casos complementando a los personajes masculinos. Sin embargo, en el ambiente machista que se presenta en las novelas encontramos al personaje de la esposa Jessie (La fiesta del rey Acab) y María Martínez (La Fiesta del Chivo) fuerte y ambiciosa. Da como pruebas que el papel de la mujer no es sin importancia en el subgénero como veremos más adelante. Realizamos además una comparación entre los análisis de la esposa tomando en cuenta que La fiesta del rey Acab es una novela en clave y La Fiesta del Chivo es una novela histórica, aparte de ser ambas novelas del dictador, para demostrar el contraste del personaje. En fin, pensamos que por medio del trabajo hemos realzado el papel de los personajes femeninos en el subgénero, un campo poco explorado en la literatura.