Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons^™

Caribbean Sensibility, Olivia A. Davis

MA Projects

The Caribbean is a region with a complex history, from the displacement of Indigenous communities to the forced migrations of the transatlantic slave trade and the arrival of indentured laborers from Asia. This has produced a region where questions of identity and belonging remain constant. Caribbean Sensibility explores how artists form the Caribbean and its diasporas navigate these complexities, transforming histories of displacement into creative expression. The exhibition draws on Trinidadian scholar Patricia Mohammed’s concept of a “Caribbean sensibility,” an emotional and aesthetic orientation based in hybridity. It is “the dissonance between a seemingly imported religion and our homegrown private …

Demystifying Dominican Artist Yoryi Morel And His Approach To Painting, Zoila Neris Sosa Veras

MA in Fine and Decorative Art and Design Dissertations

During the period between 1930-1961, the Dominican Republic experienced one of the longest and most brutal totalitarian dictatorship regimes of modern times, imposed by a tyrant named Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.1 During this period, nothing could be said or done without the consent of the so-called “Benefactor of the fatherland”. Artists' creativity and self-expressions were not allowed to be used as means to disapprove of the regime, but to please and adulate the dictator. Some artists stopped painting and some others went to live in exile. However, there was an artist whose career flourished during the era, his name is Jorge …

Herejías En La Ciudad Global: Legados De Tercermundismo, Asimilación Y Desplazamiento Urbano En Las Narrativas Literarias Contemporáneas Latinx Y Afroportuguesa (2000-2022)., Ricardo Martín Coloma

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Esta tesis examina de manera comparativa dos corpus de novelas contemporáneas que interrogan los múltiples espacios de poder y vulnerabilidad que experimentan las diásporas latinx y africanas que logran movilidad social a través del trabajo en las ciudades globales de Nueva York y Lisboa. Mediante el análisis de autores tan diversos como la mexicano-puertorriqueña Xochitl González, la dominicana Cleyvis Natera, el puertorriqueño-ecuatoriano Ernesto Quiñonez, la angoleña-portuguesa Telma Tvon, la angoleña-portuguesa Djamilia Pereira y el angoleño Kalaf Epalanga, establezco un diálogo entre las narrativas literarias de autores caribeños de la diáspora sobre la ciudad de Nueva York y las diásporas africanas …

"La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration Of Cuban Identity And Nostalgia Through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project, Maria Fernanda Mendez Mendoza

Expressive Therapies Theses

“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and …

“Translating Blackness In 19th-Century Afro-Brazilian Literature: Unsilencing The Archive”, Apoliana Da Conceição Dos Santos

ELIN Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

A Home In Both Places: Gender, Afro-Caribbean Migration, And Transnational Home-Making In Central Brooklyn, 1920–1980, Ruth Edwards

ELIN Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

A Canvas Decolonized: An Exploration Of Haiti’S Colonial History Through Haitian Artists Philemon Obin, Jean Appolon, Sheilby Mecena, Flex Morisseau–Leroy, And Claes Gabriel, Dominique Dempsey

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

A Canvas Decolonized examines the complex realities faced by Haiti through the lens of its vibrant artistic heritage, highlighting the role of art in interpreting, preserving, and challenging narratives about the nation's history and identity. By exploring the works of Haitian muralists, photographers, painters, and poets including Jean Appolon, Flex Morisseau Leroy, Claes Gabriel, and Edwidge Danticat this study illuminates how these artists engage with themes of colonization, immigration, generational trauma, and cultural displacement. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Frantz Fanon and Benedict Anderson, the paper argues that Haitian art provides a powerful medium to analyze and contextualize the …

Catalysta Proyecto: A Hybrid Approach To Showcasing Latin American Art In The Dominican Republic, Valerie Cabrera Brugal

MA Projects

Catalysta is a contemporary online art gallery that exclusively features Latin American artists, creating a dedicated platform for these voices to be seen and celebrated on the global stage. Our mission is to simplify the often-overwhelming experience of entering the art world, especially for young collectors who are new to the process. Our product offers a streamlined and accessible way to discover and purchase high-quality artwork without the traditional barriers. By providing information on the artist’s background, a description of the artwork and full disclosure of the price we offer a simple way of accessing and acquiring an art piece. …

Hugo Chávez, El Camino Hagiográfico: Religión Y Bolivarianismo En La Construcción Discursiva Del Culto A Un Presidente, Lilia Malavé Conley

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation examines the discursive construction of the political-religious cult surrounding Hugo Chávez through a theoretical and methodological approach that integrates Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA). Its central objective is to identify and interpret the incorporation of elements from the Venezuelan religious imaginary–particularly from popular Christianity–into the symbolic configuration of Chávez as a sacred figure within official discourse. The corpus analyzed includes official transcripts from the television program Aló Presidente, as well as two animated short films titled Chávez Nuestro que Estás en el Cielo (“Our Chávez Who Art in Heaven”), broadcast on Venezuelan public …

The Third Revolution: How The Haitian Revolution Redefined The Age Of Revolution, Cedric Rule-Becker

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay.................................2

II. Primary Source Documents............15

III. Textbook Critique...........................25

IV. New Textbook Entry.......................28

Cultural Immersion And Practices: Ellie Mannette’S Steel Pan Building Processes In Morgantown, West Virginia., Timothy Clark Friedhaber

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ellie Mannette, among others, was one of the first builders of the modern steel pan. Born and raised in Trinidad, Mannette started building steel pans at a young age. Eventually, he gained employment with the United States Naval Steel Band, which opened opportunities for him to grow in his field. Through these opportunities and connections, Mannette arrived in the United States permanently in 1967. In the later part of his life, he moved to Morgantown, West Virginia, where he continued building, teaching his building processes, and tuning steel pans. The study aims to serve as an aid for other scholars …

Revelations: Spirituality As Privileged Perspectivism In Magical Realist Distortions, Isabella Scala-Kazanecki

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the role of spiritual beliefs in the literary mode now known as magical realism in Cuban Alejo Carpentier’s The Kingdom of This World (1949), Indian-Born British and American Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988), and a lesser-known novel, Household Saints (1981) by Francine Prose, an American writer. The Kingdom of This World, itself the originator of the mode of magical realism, has allowed me to conclude with Carpentier that magical realism arises from “privileged revelations,” as he notes in the preface to his seminal book. But these revelations in magical realism are not necessarily always of the …

A Story Of Oppression A Psychological And Creative Approach, Juan R. Morillo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The aim of this project is to survey the manner in which oppression is expressed in selected works of literature. It is a topic that not only am I familiar with through my studies of literature and psychology, but one that I, as well as every Venezuelan expatriate has witnessed and felt for their country. The project focuses on social and political oppression, using the current Venezuelan crisis as a focal point, and selected literary sources as a framework. I will analyze dystopian classics such as George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, as well as Margaret Atwood’s The …

Warrior Women And Trans Warriors: Performing Masculinities In Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature, Carolina Castellanos Gonella

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Latin American literature has depicted warrior woman and trans warrior characters in armed conflicts, but literary critics have not paid much attention to their empowerment. They also have critiqued these characters using traditional gender binary concepts or have viewed their access to power as evil or abnormal. Warrior Women and Trans Warriors: Performing Masculinities in Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature introduces a new perspective by analyzing how one trans warrior and two warrior women from three canonical novels contest traditional codes of behavior and appearance. It examines Pintada in the Mexican novel Los de abajo (1915); doña Bárbara in the Venezuelan …

La Voz Fall 2024, El Instituto: Institute Of Latina/O, Caribbean, And Latin American Studies

La Voz

In this issue: 

• Welcome New Faculty
• A Profile of the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative
• In Memoriam, Willie Matos
• Seed Grant Lecture Series
• New Perspectives in Latin American and Latine studies Conference
• Spotlight:  Mark Overmyer‑Velázquez, in “Construyendo la ciudad disciplinada: Oaxaca de Juárez durante el Porfiriato” (2024)

Islas De Resistencia: Pensamiento Archipielágico En Las Poéticas Canarias Y Caribeñas Del Siglo Xxi, Laura García García

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores contemporary literary manifestations in the Canary Islands and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, with a stronger focus on the islands of Tenerife and Puerto Rico. Through an archipelagic approach, this study delves into the analysis of Los lenguas cortadas (2020) by Cirilo Leal, Boat People (2005) by Mayra Santos-Febres, Panza de burro (2020) by Andrea Abreu and PR3 Aguirre (2018) by Marta Aponte Alsina. The analysis states that these literary works build alternative forms of affective archives of archipelagic memory. In this sense, the objects of study participate into a sort of “poetics of resistance,” resignifying racial, ethnic, and …

Geotransformación And Overcoming Underdevelopment In Socialist Cuba, Danny Meza Keane

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

The term geotransformación, coined and theorized by Cuban geographer and revolutionary Antonio Núñez Jiménez in his 1968 book Geotransformación de Cuba, is an analytic frame which emphasizes the interconnectedness of social and natural transformation. As such, geotransformación functions as a conceptual weapon against not only theories of geographic determinism attempting to depoliticize history, but also grand historical narratives which center the human by overstating its independence from the forces of nature. Taking geotransformación as a conceptual compass for a return to the Cuban Revolution’s decisive early years, I engage in close readings of primary texts including geographic treatises, legal documents, …

A Música Na Tradição Indígena Wai Wai, Roque Yaxikma Wai Wai, Ruben Caixeta De Queiroz

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Este trabalho trata da história da música na tradição do povo indígena wai wai, um grupo de língua caribe da região guianense. A pesquisa se passa entre os Wai Wai do rio Mapuera (norte do Pará), tendo como foco os conhecimentos de anciãos e as músicas antigas que eles conhecem. Aqui tratamos da definição do que é música e instrumento musical para os Wai Wai, quem pode e quem não pode tocar e/ou ouvir música. Descrevemos as histórias dos lugares antigos de habitação dos Wai Wai, onde moravam outrora, no rio Baracuxi (Kikwo), os nomes das aldeias e os nomes …

Food, Memory, And Cuban Society: Unraveling Trauma, Traditions, And Future Imaginaries In Havana, Mallory Cerkleski

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper delves into the intricate interplay of food scarcity and memory in contemporary Havana, Cuba, drawing on a period of immersive fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2022. Situating itself amidst the lived experiences of diverse Cubans, the study examines the enduring impact of historical challenges, particularly the Special Period, on present-day perceptions and experiences. Employing an oral history methodology rooted in collective memory theory, the research explores how food serves as a potent medium for encapsulating past experiences and shaping future imaginaries. Through oral narratives spanning from 1941 to 2022, the paper uncovers diverse memories and emotions associated …

Bittersweet Spirits: Transnational Food Memory And The Persistent Production Of Non-Mainstream Alcohol In Trinidad, Shrinagar Indra Francis

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Whether we perceive the process of food leaving its mark on our culture as a function of genetic or collective memory, or a combination, informs the ways we interrogate the continued existence of these foods and their practices across time and landscapes. Within the postcolonial context, the process of re-embodiment is an inherently bittersweet one in that it comes as a consequence of loss and rupture and is motivated by a desire to be remade. Prior to colonialism, the production of alcohol was a profound aspect of the lives of the many peoples of West and West-Central Africa. Descendants of …