Latino/a writing has become one of the fastest growing literary expressions in the United States. The success of this literature relies not only on the quality of the texts written by authors of Hispanic background, but also on the diverse and rich topics this literature proposes. Latino/a discourse legitimizes the continuous presence of Latino communities in the United States and celebrates the hybrid ethnical background that distinguishes Hispanic culture. The multicultural and multiethnic context in which Latino/a writings take place affects the feminine perspective inherent in the texts by women writers in the United States. The feminine identity is not only an issue of being woman but of being part of the Latino community within the American experience. Through their texts, Latina writers validate the feminine discourse from their privileged position as part of the American mainstream and in relation to the United States and Latin America's literary tradition. The dissertation titled "Palabras de mujer: convergencias en el discurso femenino en la narrativa caribeña de origen hispano escrita en los Estados Unidos" examines the feminine discourse in the narratives by women writers from the Hispanic Caribbean whose literary lives take place in the United States. The research focuses on the writings of three women authors from Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The texts examined are: Dreaming in Cuban and The Agüero Sisters, by Cristina García; Something to Declare and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Álvarez, and Silent Dancing, The Line of the Sun, and The Latin Deli by Judith Ortiz Cofer. The chapters of the dissertation explore the following topics: the connections between national literature written in Latin American countries and Latino/a writings, and their relationship with cultural identity issues; the emigration process and its consequences; the reconstruction of national memory; and the discourse of the feminine body as part of the construction of Latina women identity. These topics are examined from a cultural studies perspective giving special attention to the multicultural and multiethnic context in which Latina writings take place. The research portrays Latina writers from the Hispanic Caribbean as a bridge that connects, through feminine discourse, Hispanic ethnical background with American cultural practices. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2003. / November 5, 2003. / Latina Literature, Julia Alvarez, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Cristina Garcia, Latina Identity, Immigration, Memory, Latina Writing / Includes bibliographical references. / Roberto Fernández, Professor Directing Dissertation; Virgilio Suárez, Outside Committee Member; Santa Arias, Committee Member; Brenda Cappuccio, Committee Member; Delia Poey, Committee Member.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185027 |
Contributors | Vellón-Benítez, Susan (authoraut), Fernández, Roberto (professor directing dissertation), Suárez, Virgilio (outside committee member), Arias, Santa (committee member), Cappuccio, Brenda (committee member), Poey, Delia (committee member), Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
Source Sets | Florida State University |
Language | English, English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Text, text |
Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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