SPANISH
WRITING AND REBELLION IN PLÁCIDOS POETRY
JACKIE VERNON WILLEY
Thesis under the direction of Professor William Luis
Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés popularly known as Plácido is considered one of the most influential and prolific poets of early nineteenth-century Cuba, yet his works continue to face marginalization from the literary canon. As a free mulatto, Plácido operated within intellectual circles dominated by white elites in an epoch in which Afro-Cubans faced growing repression by the Spanish colonial regime. Not surprisingly, his poetry exemplifies his precarious situation.
With its ambiguities, complexities of meaning, and contradictory messages, the poets oeuvre defies singular categorization. His imitation of European forms, praise of aristocrats coupled with trenchant barbs against colonialism and slavery, and consistent identity fashioning underscore the liminal space occupied by a free poet of color attempting to navigate a racial caste system that employed both psychological and physical violence to maintain its power. This thesis places Plácidos poems within their sociohistorical context to uncover both their multiple subversions of dominant discourse and their tremendous contradictions. Frantz Fanon, Kelly Oliver, and Homi Bhabhas theoretical contributions toward colonialism, racial violence, and identity formation, as well as James Scotts political theory of hegemony and everyday resistance, underpin my analysis uncovering camouflaged meanings in the poets polysemic texts.
Approved __________________ Date _____________
Approved __________________ Date _____________
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03312010-152757 |
| Date | 16 April 2010 |
| Creators | Willey, Jackie Vernon |
| Contributors | William Luis, Jane Landers |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03312010-152757/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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