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How are music, literature and migration connected? How are these transnational conversations affecting the way countries construct their national discourses today? This dissertation studies how gender and race are constructed and questioned in the 'cross-genre' dialogue among contemporary urban literature, performance, and reggaeton music produced in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and New York City from the1990s-2000s. This ongoing dialogue of marginalized music and literature, made possible by the accessibility of new media, results in a unique urban configuration in which gender and racial identities are negotiated, resulting in the reinforcement of a trans-Caribbean cultural circuit. Following a non-traditional structural approach this dissertation proposes a new analytical and reading model beginning with the Puerto Rican diaspora's cultural production in New York City as a point of departure, and from there expands to the rest of the Spanish Caribbean. I specifically focus on the writings of poets Willie Perdomo (NYC), and Guillermo Rebollo Gil (PR), the videos and lyrics of the reggaeton artists Tego Calderón and Calle 13 (PR), and the music and literary work of Rita Indiana Hernández (DR) in order analyze the complex interplay between music and literary texts to convey gender and racial imaginaries. I conclude that these literary, cultural, and performative texts abolish "national" configurations and are being replaced by broader definitions of "us," race, and gender to address the complexities of contemporary Caribbean transnational identitary circuits. / text

The purpose of this study was to validate the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) on a sample of Afro-Caribbean college students. Participants were drawn from a larger national study on culture and identity collected at 26 universities from across the United States. Students included in this sample were either born in a Caribbean country, or had one or both parents from a Caribbean country. The students completed various measures of culture and identity. The ones utilized in this study were ethnic identity (Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) and depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). Analyses were conducted using the Statistics Package for the Social Sciences and AMOS (SPSS for Windows Version 16.0.2, 2008). A confirmatory factor analysis was utilized in order to confirm the hypothesized factor structure of the MEIM with this sample in terms of goodness of fit. Correlations to determine the internal reliability and construct validity of the MEIM and multivariate analysis of variance to determine group differences within the sample were conducted. Additionally, criterion validity was examined between the MEIM and measures of self-esteem and depression. The results of this study indicate that the MEIM is a two factor structure for Afro-Caribbean college students. The results suggested adequate to good internal item consistency on all measures utilized with this sample. With regard to concurrent validity, the relationship between self-esteem and ethnic identity in this sample wasn't as remarkable and supportive of past research where there has been a more distinct and robust relationship. There was a statistically significant positive correlation with the affirmation subscale and depression. This was not true for the total MEIM measure and the exploration subscale. Ethnic identity does not have the same relationship with self-esteem and depression as it has in previously studied Black/African American and minority populations in the United States.

This thesis undertakes a close analysis of the integration of the post-colonial society of Martinique into the French nation-state. In 2009, a social movement in Martinique temporarily raised nationalist demands but also sought closer integration into the French state. This thesis examines how this integration has been thwarted by the specific colonial legacies of Martinique and by the politics of departmentalisation of the French state. The departmentalisation of Martinique, which occurred in 1946, sought to decolonise Martinique. This dissertation argues that it is impossible to achieve the integration of Martinique into France without addressing the economic and social legacies of colonialism. The reason for this is because such legacies make it impossible to create national unity. The departmentalisation of Martinique was a republican nationalist project which aimed to culturally assimilate and politically homogenise Martinique into the French state. However, despite departmentalisation, economic and social inequalities stemming from the colonial past remain, and still divide that society. Moreover, despite the legacy of colonial discourse, the Martiniquans stand firmly against political independence. The numerous nationalist and pro-independence parties that attempt to define and promote Martiniquan cultural identities fail to rally the population around the idea of independence. The very existence of these parties implies, on the other hand, that both cultural and republican nationalism failed to create and sustain a metadiscourse of community within the island. However, the 2009 movement was a golden site for observing and instigating social change because the protesters demonstrated and voiced a strong sense of collective identity and solidarity. The protesters contested both the failure of departmentalisation and the resilience of colonial discourses. Throughout the movement, the protesters challenged both the legitimacy of the French government and the influence of the Martiniquan nationalist parties on the protests. I argue that the protests created a liminal space through which the protesters voiced their individual and distinct personal histories and narratives. Such protests created an open space which allowed the protesters to individually address the resilience of colonial discourses and to contest its impacts on their lives, and on the Martiniquan society. I also argue that this liminal space was an integrative space, and the ultimate “rhetorical glue” that unified the protesters. This liminal space was exceptional in this sense, since the existing nationalist discourses and projects which have been implemented in Martinique tend to emphasise social divisions in the island. Indeed, assimilation does not allow the expressions of such cultural distinctiveness outside the French republican ideals. In addition, local nationalist parties attempting to build national unity through cultural discourse struggle to define the ambivalence and the ever-changing characteristics of post-colonial/hybrid Martiniquan identity. The findings could be useful to the formulation of Martiniquan political identity, and to the configuration of French integrative policies. I conclude that such policies would be effective if they tackled the lasting impact of colonial discourse in both Martinique and France.