Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons^™

Jarrod Hayes. Queer Roots For The Diaspora: Ghosts In The Family Tree. Ann Arbor: U Of Michigan P, 2016., Annie De Saussure

Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

Review of Jarrod Hayes. Queer Roots for the Diaspora: Ghosts in the family tree. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. 325 pp.

Santería In A Globalized World: A Study In Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music, Nathan Montgomery

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The Yoruban people of modern-day Nigeria worship many deities called orichas by means of singing, drumming, and dancing. Their aurally preserved artistic traditions are intrinsically connected to both religious ceremony and everyday life. These forms of worship traveled to the Americas during the colonial era through the brutal transatlantic slave trade and continued to evolve beneath racist societal hierarchies implemented by western European nations. Despite severe oppression, Yoruban slaves in Cuba were able to disguise orichas behind Catholic saints so that they could still actively worship in public. This initial guise led to a synthesis of religious practice, language, and ...

Los Cuatro Puntos Cardinales Del Lente De Juan Carlos Alom, Reynaldo Lastre

The Quiet Corner Interdisciplinary Journal

Breve análisis de los tópicos característicos en la obra fotográfica del fotógrafo cubano Juan Carlos Alom, en especial las que resumen su reciente exposición en el Jorgensen, Center for the Performing Arts, de la Universidad de Connecticut.

El Mundo Anti-Negro Y Los Hip-Hop Blues: Los Rakas Y J-Cole, Josué R. López

The Quiet Corner Interdisciplinary Journal

Tenemos que contender con el mundo anti-negro. Los Rakas, un dúo artístico panameño-estadounidense, y J-Cole, un artista afro-estadounidense, utilizan al hip-hop como una avenida para comunicar sus ansiedades, sufrimientos y fortalecerse en la lucha infinita al ser el Otro Oscuro. Los blues forman parte de como uno lidia con la permanencia del racismo y nuestra existencia en un mundo anti-negro. A través de Frantz Fanon, Derrick Bell y Lewis Gordon, argumento que el estilo musical de J-Cole y Los Rakas constituye una forma de los hip-hop blues. Examino las canciones “Sueño Americano” y “Neighbors” para analizar cómo los artistas entienden ...

Tracing Dominican Attitudes Towards Race: A Historical Analysis, Marcos Polonia

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The common misconception is that all Dominicans are racist – that Dominicans live in a Fanonesque reality where we believe we are white, but we clearly inhabit black bodies. These attitudes permeate Dominican society from the highest echelons of power to the everyday experiences of Dominicans on the street. The notion that Dominicans are racist is widespread among Latinos and African-Americans as well. Recently, global attention was focused on the Dominican Republic as the country changed its constitution in order to prevent Dominicans of Haitian descent from becoming Dominican citizens. But, where do these notions of race come from? This thesis ...

Climate Change, Colonialism, And Second-Class Citizenry: A Case Study Of The Impacts Of Hurricane María In Puerto Rico, Aislyne Calianos

Senior Honors Projects

The hurricane season of 2017 was a historic one, with mammoth storms making landfall one after another, in what seemed like an unrelenting assault on our coastal cities and communities. Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston, Irma plowed through Florida, and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, but one of these storms was unlike the others. Why is it that the American citizens of our southern states were able to recover so much more quickly than our citizens in Puerto Rico? In the era of climate change, we will be forced to reckon with the modern legacy of colonialism, as vulnerable communities must face ...

“The Only Way Out Is In”: Negotiating Identity Through Narrative In The House On Mango Street And The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, Brianna E. Taylor

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

While aimed at vastly different audiences, Sandra Cisneros’s beloved coming-of-age story The House on Mango Street and Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao both uniquely capture the complexities of navigating the hyphenated territory between their respective Mexican-American and Dominican-American identities. Cisneros engages readers with the simple yet profound narrative voice of Esperanza in a series of vignettes that subtly reveal a growing consciousness of her role as a young Mexican-American woman and her creative consciousness as an artist. Through the multifaceted narrative perspective of Yunior, Díaz skillfully weaves together “ghetto nerd ...

Ficcionalización Del Trauma En El Cine De Horror Y Ciencia Ficción: Moebius, Aparecidos (Argentina) Y El Páramo (Colombia), David Vasquez Hurtado

Alambique: Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasia / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

Este ensayo analiza la ficcionalización del trauma en tres obras cinematográficas de fantasía, dos argentinas: Aparecidos (2007) y Moebius (1996), y una colombiana: El páramo (2011). Se aplica la teoría psicoanalítica sobre la figura paterna y la castración simbólica, para mostrar elementos comunes a la representación cinematográfica de los regímenes autoritarios a través del género gótico, de horror y ciencia ficción. Los filmes coinciden en representar la función paterna como una figura autoritaria que reitera indefinidamente el evento reprimido de la castración simbólica. La situación de violencia extrema impide que la castración simbólica conduzca al establecimiento de la ley y ...

La Adaptación Afro-Futurística Y El Placer Como Supervivencia En "Los Pueblos Silenciosos" De Elena Palacios Ramé, Samuel Ginsburg

Alambique: Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasia / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

In “The Silent Towns,” from the 1950 collection The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury tells the story of the last man and woman left on Mars. While Walter has romanticized visions of a perfect match, he is ultimately disappointed by Genevieve’s and chooses to live out his life alone. Sixty years later, director Elena Palacios Ramé revived this science fiction classic to ask a simple question with a complex answer: What happens if you move the story to Havana? In the short film Los pueblos silenciosos (2010), Palacios replaces Mars with an abandoned Cuban capital, matching Walter with an extravagant ...

Perceptions On Santería: Then And Now, Ludmille Glaude

Undergraduate Research

This paper will examine how the Batista and Castro regimes were able to impact the perception of Santería amongst the Cuban public. Santeria is a polytheistic religion practiced in Cuba that combines elements of Yoruba beliefs and Catholicism. Recently, Santeria appears to be experiencing a growth in visibility in Cuba. The syncretic religion and its visibility, has become of interest to examine and report on, amongst many media outlets. According to a Vice News article published as recently as 2014, the author dubs Santería as “Cuba’s New Religion”. The article describes Santería as a dynamic form of worship, with ...

La Voz Winter 2018, El Instituto

La Voz

In this issue:

• Hurricane María
• Metanoia events
• Speakers: Sir Hilary Beckles; Ailyn Morera
• Mead Lecture
• PRCAP: Puerto Rico Citizenship Archives Project
• Tinker Field Research
• Spotlight: Joseline Tlacomulco
• Poetry: Nicole Delgado

“¿Qué Coño Es Esto?”: Exploración De Identidad De Género Y De Orientación Sexual En La Mucama De Omicunlé, Vianny C. Lugo Aracena

Honors Theses

La mucama de Omicunlé (2015) es una novela escrita por la autora dominicana Rita Indiana, que lidia con temas que son considerados tabúes dentro de la sociedad dominicana: sexualidad, identidad de género, y espiritualidad afrodescendiente. Indiana utiliza la espiritualidad afrodescendiente para facilitar la exploración de las respectivas identidades de género y de orientación sexual en los personajes principales, Acilde y Argenis. El utilizar la espiritualidad afrodescendiente también permite ver a la novela como un texto literario que utiliza el patakí, una narración que contiene conocimientos afrodescendientes, como elemento estructural principal. Los temas que normalmente caracterizan a los patakíes son abundantes ...

Who Controls Haiti's Destiny? A Examination Of Haiti's Underdevelopment, Endless Poverty, And The Role Played By Ngos, Patrick Scheld

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The presence of NGOs and development agencies is often considered an apolitical phenomenon, and that the very presence of NGOs within a country is a symbol of a global humanity in action; in short, NGOs equal charity which equals good work. Unfortunately, the reality is often much more complicated as NGOs can also be found to be self-serving, anti-democratic and strictly in pursuit of their next funding source. In this thesis I advance the central hypothesis that the international community’s continued pursuit of an NGO-led neoliberal economic development model has systematically failed to contribute to the sustainable development of ...

Kiskeyanas Valientes En Este Espacio: Dominican Women Writers And The Spaces Of Contemporary American Literature, Isabel R. Espinal

Doctoral Dissertations

We can learn and gain a lot by putting Dominican women writers at the center of our attention. Yet they rarely have that place. This dissertation looks at Dominican women authors who have lived and written in the United States —Josefina Báez, Marianela Medrano, Yrene Santos, Aurora Arias, Nelly Rosario, Annecy Báez, Ana Maurine Lara, Raquel Cepeda— and how they fit within the spaces of contemporary American society, and more broadly within world flows of peoples and cultural productions. I draw on the theories and methodologies of Gloria Anzaldúa and her generation of feminists of color, as well as subsequent ...

The Legacy Of British Rule On Lgbt Rights In Jamaica And The Cayman Islands, Zachary Stewart

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between British colonial influence and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights in the Caribbean. Comparing the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and Jamaica, an independent former colony of the United Kingdom, the situation for LGBT people is evaluated. While Jamaica has serious abuses and a concerning situation for the human rights of LGBT people, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT community’s position is far less concerning. Owing to its continued connection to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT rights situation is much less dire. Through British influence ...

“The Only Way Out Is In”: Negotiating Identity Through Narrative In The House On Mango Street And The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, Brianna E. Taylor

Honors College Theses

While aimed at vastly different audiences, Sandra Cisneros’s beloved coming-of-age story The House on Mango Street and Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao both uniquely capture the complexities of navigating the hyphenated territory between their respective Mexican-American and Dominican-American identities. Cisneros engages readers with the simple yet profound narrative voice of Esperanza in a series of vignettes that subtly reveal a growing consciousness of her role as a young Mexican-American woman and her creative consciousness as an artist. Through the multifaceted narrative perspective of Yunior, Díaz skillfully weaves together “ghetto nerd ...

La Voz Fall 2017, El Instituto: Institute Of Latina/O, Caribbean, And Latin American Studies

La Voz

In this issue:

• Mark Overmyer-Velazquez
• Feria Internacioinal de Libros
• Racismo y Lenguaje
• Pre-doctoral research funding
• Tinker Field Research
• Latino Fraternities
• Latino Sororities
• Daisy Reyes
• DACA
• Hurricane Study
• La Comunidad Intelectual
• Maria del Mar Olmedo-Malagon

Structures Of Terror In Caribbean Women's Writing, Lauren E. Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations (All)

Situated within the transnational feminist movement which has gathered in response to the historical process of enclosure and regulation associated with capitalism, Caribbean women writers are uniquely positioned to bear witness or create resistance to the exploitation of their bodies and the environment under this system of slow violence. This dissertation takes up a queer eco- materialist feminist framework to explore the critiques and the methods of resistance to this system offered by Caribbean women writers.

Materialist feminists Maria Mies and Cynthia Enloe have contributed greatly to understanding how women’s labor has been exploited on a local and international ...

H.V.: The Cuban Revolution Through One Man’S Life, Isabel Valiela

Spanish Faculty Publications

This paper aims to illustrate the many ways in which the Cuban Revolution shaped the lives of the Cuban people by focusing on one man’s life from his childhood in the early part of the revolutionary period to his final departure from Cuba in 2006. H.V., as I call him, now lives in Barcelona, Spain. He is a man of humble rural origins who moved to Havana in his youth, where he benefitted from various government programs related to education, sports and job training. He and his family were initially very pro-revolutionary, but in the 1980’s he ...

Bilingual And Bimodal Expression: The Creolization In Edwidge Danticat's Oeuvre, Anna Robinette

Student Honors Theses By Year

Although scholars have identified and celebrated the multicultural nature of Edwidge Danticat’s fiction, little scholarship exists that examines the complexity and significance of her multilingual craft. In response, this paper provides examples of translation, theme, motif, and structure found across all of Danticat’s works that illuminate the ways in which Danticat’s use of language mirrors the créolité and creole identities in today’s global, post-colonial world. Using creolization theory as a lens for critical analysis, this essay investigates the ways in which Danticat blends English and Kreyòl, written and oral literary traditions to build a new genre ...