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Full-Text Articles in Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature

Colonialidade E Linguística: Uma Perspectiva Em A Febre, Jaciele Souza Jun 2026

Colonialidade E Linguística: Uma Perspectiva Em A Febre, Jaciele Souza

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

This study aims to examine the presence of coloniality in the film The Fever (A Febre), directed by Maya Da-Rin, while also addressing linguistic aspects, particularly the interplay between the indigenous Tukano language and Portuguese throughout the narrative. It further explores the relationship between language, identity, and culture. The analysis is grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Carey-Webb (2024), Quijano (2007), Kaká Werá (1998), Othero (2017), Karnal (2024), Bourdieu (1991), and Maher (2010). The results show how the effects of colonization continue to impact Indigenous communities and how forced bilingualism reflects the mechanisms of structural racism. Additionally, the use of …


A Multimodal Analysis Of Conflicting Discourses On New Mexican Identity, Nicholas L. Chavez, Fátima Holguín Jun 2026

A Multimodal Analysis Of Conflicting Discourses On New Mexican Identity, Nicholas L. Chavez, Fátima Holguín

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

We analyze two contrasting discourses on New Mexican identity, as represented in political cartoons from Trever (2021) and García (2018). We show how visual and linguistic elements of the cartoons work together to construct identity through metaphor and metonymy. It was found that Trever (2021) relied on cultural symbols such as the Zia Sun symbol as metonyms for various aspects of New Mexico’s identity, while García (2018) subverted established metaphors for American culture such as the melting pot and Uncle Sam to critique governmental influence on Nuevomexicano (‘New Mexican’) identity formation. Using the critical discourse analysis framework of Fairclough (1995), …


Invisible Shipwrecks And Neurological Endangerment: The Trade-Off In Seeking Asylum - Reframing The Neurobiological Cost Of Forced Migration, Eisha Giran May 2026

Invisible Shipwrecks And Neurological Endangerment: The Trade-Off In Seeking Asylum - Reframing The Neurobiological Cost Of Forced Migration, Eisha Giran

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

Forced migration along the Spain–Morocco route represents one of the most visible humanitarian crises of the twenty-first century, yet its neurological dimensions remain insufficiently examined. This paper investigates how prolonged displacement and trauma reshape neural systems involved in stress regulation, memory, and emotional processing. It introduces the concept of neurological endangerment, defined as a condition of prolonged and inescapable threat exposure during forced migration in which stress-response systems remain chronically activated, opportunities for recovery are structurally constrained, and cumulative neurobiological risk persists beyond the period of immediate danger.

To address the gap between biological measurement and lived experience, this paper …


Dedicatoria - Reflections On The Fabric Of Privilege (Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton, Pp. 7-9), Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton Apr 2025

Dedicatoria - Reflections On The Fabric Of Privilege (Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton, Pp. 7-9), Chelsey Dipasquale-Hunton

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

Chelsey’s reflection, written in November 2023 for Dr. Nancy López’s Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Class for Social Policy course, stands as a profound testament to her intellect, compassion, and commitment to understanding the complexities of privilege and identity. In this deeply personal narrative, Chelsey examines the paradoxes of privilege she carried and the ways in which they intersected with her marginalized identities. Her words reveal not only her dedication to self-awareness and growth but also her unwavering commitment to fostering equity and understanding within her community.As an educator, colleague, and advocate, Chelsey embodied the principles of humility and responsibility. Her reflection …


Poesía Mapuche Y Vasca Como Herramienta De Resistencia Cotidiana, Paula Ruiz Santamaría Jan 2025

Poesía Mapuche Y Vasca Como Herramienta De Resistencia Cotidiana, Paula Ruiz Santamaría

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation examines the work of contemporary Mapuche poets Adriana Pinda, Maribel Mora Curriao and Roxana Miranda Rupailaf, alongside Basque poets Leire Bilbao and Miren Agur Meabe, who write partially or entirely in their native languages— Mapudungun and Basque— as a form of resistance against the historical and ongoing imposition of Spanish. Through their poetry, these poets defend their identities and cultural heritage, invoking their matrilineal lineage to remember and heal. They also subvert traditional Catholic prayers by modifying them into invocations to Goddesses, casting spells of liberation of the female body, denouncing patriarchal violence and recreating alternative worlds. Their …


The Wild Dark Or, La Oscuridad Salvaje: Illuminating Identity Through Failure, Worley B. Gierhart Jan 2025

The Wild Dark Or, La Oscuridad Salvaje: Illuminating Identity Through Failure, Worley B. Gierhart

Undergraduate Theses

This thesis, "The Wild Dark or, La oscuridad salvaje: Illuminating Identity Through Failure," explores how the narrative power of darkness can serve as a catalyst for profound self-discovery, particularly in the aftermath of significant failure. Drawing upon literary analysis and the author's personal experience of shifting academic paths, the study examines how confronting metaphorical darkness allows for a critical rebuilding of identity and self-concept. The play referenced in the title, "The Wild Dark or, La oscuridad salvaje," serves as a central point of analysis, investigating the interplay of theme, setting, and scenario in depicting this transformative process. By engaging with …


La Dos Espíritus, Alfredo Avalos Dec 2024

La Dos Espíritus, Alfredo Avalos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A través de la novela La dos espíritus se examina la representación de las masculinidades diversas, disidentes de la heteronormatividad. El texto dialoga con la novela El vampiro de la colonia Roma (1978) de Luis Zapata y otras representaciones del personaje queer. A través de la protagonista Cayetana, una mujer transgénero y mediante el formato de una larga entrevista que le realiza el periodista Josué, la novela explora temas de identidad, marginalización y resistencia.


“So, Like… Tú Sabes”: An Approach To Bilingual Discourse Markers In Puerto Rican Spanish Oral Interaction (Piero Visconte, Pp. 21-45), Piero Visconte Apr 2024

“So, Like… Tú Sabes”: An Approach To Bilingual Discourse Markers In Puerto Rican Spanish Oral Interaction (Piero Visconte, Pp. 21-45), Piero Visconte

Intersecciones Hispánicas: Revista de Cultura, Literatura y Lingüística

This paper examines discourse markers (DMs) (i.e., pues, entonces, you know, so, I mean, etc.) and their linguistic variations in contexts of English-Spanish interaction in Puerto Rico. This linguistic category represents an aspect of discourse analysis that has captivated great interest in recent years, since its “main function is to connect utterances to each other and to the larger context” (Crible and Blackwell 2020: 24). As shown in several sociolinguistic research articles conducted in the Puerto Rican diaspora of New York City in the last twenty years (Torres 1997, 2002; Lipski 2005), the profound and protracted contact between Spanish and …


Narratives Of Exile: Themes Of Displacement In Seghers, Duras, And Elio, Erin Consla Apr 2024

Narratives Of Exile: Themes Of Displacement In Seghers, Duras, And Elio, Erin Consla

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines identity, memory, and displacement in the exile narratives of Anna Seghers, Marguerite Duras, and María Luisa Elío. I argue that identity post-exile can be conceptualized as a continuous process of becoming, marked by a kaleidoscope of past, present, and future. Several aesthetic maneuvers such as the use of elements of form, memories of childhood, and palimpsest are shared by the chosen narratives, resulting in similar negotiations with identity. Through analysis of the authors' aesthetic focalizations, it becomes clear that their binary subject positions are modulated by the liminality and contradictions inherent in identity creation after exile. The …


Identity And Alterity In A Comedy Series From Santa Cruz, Bolivia, During The Presidency Of Evo Morales, Anita L. Zandstra, Apr 2024

Identity And Alterity In A Comedy Series From Santa Cruz, Bolivia, During The Presidency Of Evo Morales, Anita L. Zandstra,

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the construction of social identity and social difference in and through Neo/Los Mismos, a Bolivian comedy series produced during the presidency of Evo Morales (2006-2019), the country’s first president to claim an Indigenous identity. These years were characterized by profound divisions between the Bolivian highlands, home to Morales’s base of support, and the opposition based in the lowlands department of Santa Cruz. This qualitative study takes an interdisciplinary approach to social identity and social difference during the Morales era, drawing on concepts from linguistic anthropology, literary criticism, and humor studies, and tracing connections between Neo/Los Mismos and …


Pachuquismo E Identidad Nacional Imaginada En Los Estados Unidos Y México En La Década De 1940, Isabel Saavedra-Weis Jan 2023

Pachuquismo E Identidad Nacional Imaginada En Los Estados Unidos Y México En La Década De 1940, Isabel Saavedra-Weis

Hispanic Studies Honors Projects

Pachuquismo was a counterculture born in the barrios of East L.A. in the 1940s. Mexican-American youth created their own social group defined by specific clothing (zoot suits), music fusions (mambo and swing), and linguistic dialects (caló). However, on both sides of the U.S. and Mexican border, pachucos had a poor reputation. In the U.S., mainstream media portrayed pachucos as juvenile delinquents and domestic threats. In Mexico, pachucos were mimicked and heavily criticized for their Americanization. In this essay, I identify how U.S. and Mexican mainstream media reacted to pachucos, and what those portrayals can tell us about the imagined national …


Song Of Exile: A Cultural History Of Brazil’S Most Popular Poem, 1846–2018, Joshua Alma Enslen Apr 2022

Song Of Exile: A Cultural History Of Brazil’S Most Popular Poem, 1846–2018, Joshua Alma Enslen

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Song of Exile: A Cultural History of Brazil’s Most Popular Poem, 1846–2018 is the first comprehensive study of the influence of Antônio Gonçalves Dias’s “Canção do exílio.” Written in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1843 by a homesick student longing for Brazil, “Song of Exile” has inspired thousands of parodies and pastiches, and new variations continue to appear to this day. Every generation of Brazilian writers has adapted the poem’s Romantic verses to glorify the wonders of the nation or to criticize it via parody, exposing a litany of issues that have plagued the country’s progress over the years. Based on a …


Las Voces Desde La Liminalidad Sino-Peruana: –Una Lectura Comparativa De Mongolia Y La Vida No Es Una Tómbola–, Jing Tan Apr 2022

Las Voces Desde La Liminalidad Sino-Peruana: –Una Lectura Comparativa De Mongolia Y La Vida No Es Una Tómbola–, Jing Tan

LSU Master's Theses

Chinese immigrants first arrived in Peru in the mid-19th Century. Since then, the Sino-Peruvian community has lived through myriad vicissitudes. Today, despite its indisputable influence in Peru’s history, it is still largely invisible in society, just as the concept of an Asian Latin American identity remains elusive in the national consciousness. In the literary and academic world, the scarcity of a voice highlighting Chinese legacies in Peruvian literature is echoed by the dearth of such a voice in the criticism regarding works by Sino-Peruvian writers about Sino-Peruvian experiences.

This comparative analysis engages with two novels that evince deep parallelism with …


Yo Soy Rumano (I Am Romanian): An Autobiography Exploring The Effects Of Memory And Trauma On The Formation Of The Self, Andrei Bucaloiu Jan 2022

Yo Soy Rumano (I Am Romanian): An Autobiography Exploring The Effects Of Memory And Trauma On The Formation Of The Self, Andrei Bucaloiu

Honors Theses

I came to the United States from Romania with my parents when I was two years old. This moment of cultural, linguistic, and geographic separation occurred before I was able to consciously recall it, yet it constitutes a traumatic experience, in the Freudian and Lacanian sense, that defines my positionality and serves as a primary space in which I seek to develop who I am. However, regardless of how much I have developed my ability to communicate in English, it is not the language of my emotional affect. At the same time, profound expression in Romanian is not possible for …


Mapping The New Latinx Identity: How Native Beliefs And Magic Realism In Latinx Literature And Culture Extrapolate The Need To Develop One's Identity Through The Retention Of Native Origins, Megan Hansen Dec 2021

Mapping The New Latinx Identity: How Native Beliefs And Magic Realism In Latinx Literature And Culture Extrapolate The Need To Develop One's Identity Through The Retention Of Native Origins, Megan Hansen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

The disparity between the yearning to belong to a society and the inability to find acceptance within it plagues Latinx immigrants as they struggle to establish a balance between their culture of origin and the need for assimilation in the United States. A partial formation of identity in both spaces leaves Latinx immigrants torn between assimilation or isolation, creating internal conflict as they strive to locate a space to belong. Using the theme of folk religion under the scope of magic realism as the canvas, Latinx authors, such as Ernesto Quiñónez in Changó´s Fire and Taína, Érika Sánchez in …


Desde El Fuego Que En Mí Arde: Performance, Literatura Y Cine Afro-Latinoamericano Producidos Por Mujeres Afrodescendientes En Perú, Cuba Y Brasil (1960–2000), Elena Ekatherina Chavez Goycochea Sep 2021

Desde El Fuego Que En Mí Arde: Performance, Literatura Y Cine Afro-Latinoamericano Producidos Por Mujeres Afrodescendientes En Perú, Cuba Y Brasil (1960–2000), Elena Ekatherina Chavez Goycochea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines different films, literary, and performance art pieces created by contemporary afro-descendant women from Peru, Cuba, and Brazil after the sixties with emphasis on the most relevant works of Conceição Evaristo, Sara Gómez, Victoria Santa Cruz, and Lucía Charún-Illescas. I focus my research on the crucial role these artists played in the cultural identity formation of Latin America when inserting ‘race’ as a category of socio-political analysis and cultural production. How did their films, performances, and texts challenge national narratives and imaginaries after 1960? Although in the sixties, women improved their civil rights in different countries, the ‘mujer …


La Carranga Como Identidad Cultural Local Y Regional Del Departamento De Cundinamarca Y Boyacá– Colombia, Karen L. López May 2021

La Carranga Como Identidad Cultural Local Y Regional Del Departamento De Cundinamarca Y Boyacá– Colombia, Karen L. López

Honors Program Theses and Projects

“Somos hablares, historias copla, canto y poesías, eso es lo que les traemos, eso es la carranguerita, sinfónicamente hablando, un canto hermoso a la vida”. Estas son las palabras con las que inicia algunas de sus presentaciones en público Jorge Velosa, el hombre más influyente y reconocido de la música carranguera. Este ritmo musical es muy importante porque por medio de su letra expresa ideas, valores, y lazos de identidad únicos de la comunidad campesina. También, es un estilo de música colombiana que busca la sonrisa de la gente, muestra cómo convivir en paz con la naturaleza, y es la …


A World Of Infinite Possibilities: Recoding Popular Culture In Modern U.S. Ethnic Fiction, Todd Martinez May 2021

A World Of Infinite Possibilities: Recoding Popular Culture In Modern U.S. Ethnic Fiction, Todd Martinez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project examines how the U.S. ethnic authors Ralph Ellison, Maxine Hong Kingston and Junot Díaz reflect the dynamic, reciprocal process of transculturation by decoding popular cultural forms. Using strategies made available by cultural studies, hemispheric theory and neoMarxism, critical attention will be directed to each author’s major literary work: Ellison’s Invisible Man, Kingston’s Tripmaster Monkey, and Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. This dissertation further analyzes a hitherto overlooked area of U.S. multiethnic literary studies: the ethnic subject’s relationship to encoded popular culture forms and how they impact dentity formation. Recent scholarship has focused on the ethnic …


Immigrants: A Threat To The Economy Or Cultural Identity? A Case Study Of Haitian And Venezuelan Immigrants In Chile, Erin Geist Apr 2020

Immigrants: A Threat To The Economy Or Cultural Identity? A Case Study Of Haitian And Venezuelan Immigrants In Chile, Erin Geist

Honors Theses

Historically, countries often faced the difficult task of favoring one immigrant group over another. Typically, this is in response to their inability to support those immigrants due to an unstable economy. However, some scholars argue that during times of economic prosperity, excluding immigrants may be the result of the group’s incapacity to assimilate to the nation’s “cultural identity”. Since Chile’s conception as a nation and as one of the most prosperous Latin American countries, they have received notably minuscule immigration rates. As a result, Chileans prides themselves as a relatively homogeneous country. Consequently, in 2018, President Sebastián Piñera differentiated visas …


Being Portuguese In Spanish: Reimagining Early Modern Iberian Literature, 1580–1640, Jonathan William Wade Apr 2020

Being Portuguese In Spanish: Reimagining Early Modern Iberian Literature, 1580–1640, Jonathan William Wade

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Among the many consequences of Spain’s annexation of Portugal from 1580 to 1640 was an increase in the number of Portuguese authors writing in Spanish. One can trace this practice as far back as the medieval period, although it was through Gil Vicente, Jorge de Montemayor, and others that Spanish-language texts entered the mainstream of literary expression in Portugal. Proficiency in both languages gave Portuguese authors increased mobility throughout the empire. For those with literary aspirations, Spanish offered more opportunities to publish and greater readership, which may be why it is nearly impossible to find a Portuguese author who did …


Más Allá De La Comisión De La Verdad Y Reconciliación: Memoria, Cuerpo Y Producción Cultural De Mujeres En El Perú (2005–2013), Otilia M. Mendiolaza Feb 2020

Más Allá De La Comisión De La Verdad Y Reconciliación: Memoria, Cuerpo Y Producción Cultural De Mujeres En El Perú (2005–2013), Otilia M. Mendiolaza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines literary and cinematographic works concerning the war between the Peruvian Armed Forces and the Peruvian Communist Party Shining Path (1980-2000) produced by contemporary women artists. In particular, it analyzes how these works reveal topics overlooked by the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru (CVR) published on August 28, 2003. To do so, it studies the socio-political and cultural factors that contributed to the violation of human rights during the internal military conflict, especially of women, focusing on questions of memory, identity, and the body. The dissertation analyzes Rocío Silva Santisteban’s poetry collection Las hijas …


Revolución De Identidad: An Autoethnography On Spanish Heritage Language & Identity, Cristina Velazquez Sep 2019

Revolución De Identidad: An Autoethnography On Spanish Heritage Language & Identity, Cristina Velazquez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This autoethnography narrative examines my journey as a first-generation Mexican immigrant woman from birth, through completion of the doctorate degree at California State University, San Bernardino. The purpose in writing this autoethnography is to present a personalized account of my experiences growing up, in communicating between two languages, the structural and personal motivators behind maintaining a heritage language (Spanish), and to reflect, in my experience, how I have negotiated with multiple social identities, including ethnic, academic, and bilingual identities. In this self-study, I bring the reader closer to Mexican-American identity, language, and culture. Specifically, this qualitative analysis of Spanish Heritage …


In Search Of National Identity: Portraits Of Motherless Women In Clarín And Galdós, Leslie I. Quezada Apr 2019

In Search Of National Identity: Portraits Of Motherless Women In Clarín And Galdós, Leslie I. Quezada

LSU Master's Theses

Drawing on novels by Leopoldo Alas Clarín and Benito Pérez Galdós, I will examine the portraits of women in La Regenta (1885), Tristana (1892), andLa de San Quintín (1894). By exploring how women in the works are reflected in terms of identity and nature of their role from a male-authored perspective, I will study how different aspects influence the development of their character, as well as the issues they face when searching for their identity. Galdós and Clarín unravel the women to embody the nation of Spain and the conditions it was going through before the …


El Tango Y La Cultura Popular En La Reciente Narrativa Argentina, Monica A. Agrest May 2018

El Tango Y La Cultura Popular En La Reciente Narrativa Argentina, Monica A. Agrest

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to show that Tango as scenario, background, atmosphere or lending its stanzas and language, helps determine the tone and even the sentiment of disappointment and nostalgia, which are in much of Argentine recent narrative. In addition, this thesis aims, to answer questions like: How is it possible for Tango to transform itself into a literary component, and to be considered essential to Argentinean identity? Which of its characteristics allow it to provide literary language, atmosphere and even inspiration to the narrative’s creative process? How is the intertextual dialogue between its lyrics and the …


Redactándome A Mi Misma: Writing Place, Process, And Identity Across Two Languages, Jenna Ziegelmayer May 2018

Redactándome A Mi Misma: Writing Place, Process, And Identity Across Two Languages, Jenna Ziegelmayer

Senior Honors Projects

Emily Dickinson once wrote a poem titled “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” where she advises writers to do just that. One should tell the truth about their experiences, but tell it through their own unique perspective in order to make it “dazzle” on the page. My slant? Una segunda lengua.

As a student of Spanish, learning a different language has impacted the way that I see the world and my place in it. Studying abroad taught me about the language and culture of Spain, but it also taught me a lot about myself, my own native language, …


De Jesusita A Jane: Preservación Digital, Nombres Personales Y Autorrepresentación En La Experiencia Mexicano-Americana En El Medio Oeste De Eeuu / From Jesusita To Jane: Digital Preservation, Personal Names And Self-Presentation Of Mexican American Experience In The Us Midwest, Jennifer Isasi, Janette Avelar, Isabel Velázquez Jan 2018

De Jesusita A Jane: Preservación Digital, Nombres Personales Y Autorrepresentación En La Experiencia Mexicano-Americana En El Medio Oeste De Eeuu / From Jesusita To Jane: Digital Preservation, Personal Names And Self-Presentation Of Mexican American Experience In The Us Midwest, Jennifer Isasi, Janette Avelar, Isabel Velázquez

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

Pairing preservation with analytical endeavors, the corpus for the present analysis consists of 345 digital objects that include one or more iterations of the personal name of the mother and daughter of a Mexican American family that migrated from Zacatecas, Mexico, to the American Midwest, during the first half of the 20th century. Data were analyzed along the following dimensions: self-presentation, language(s), geographical location, temporality, public/private space, and type of text. At the same time, we describe the challenges involved in encoding names that follow different naming conventions, that were produced by speakers of two different languages, and that changed …


“Vidas Virtuales, Memorias Postizas: Teorías De La Identidad Personal En Lágrimas En La Lluvia”, Dale J. Pratt Sep 2017

“Vidas Virtuales, Memorias Postizas: Teorías De La Identidad Personal En Lágrimas En La Lluvia”, Dale J. Pratt

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

“Vidas virtuales, memorias postizas: teorías de la identidad personal en Lágrimas en la lluvia”

En Lágrimas en la lluvia (2011) de Rosa Montero, mientras la detective tecnohumana Bruna Husky investiga un complot para exterminar los replicantes del Madrid del siglo XXII, se despliega un estudio profundo sobre qué es la identidad. Se presentan en la novela varias teorías de la identidad personal, con divergentes posturas sobre los estados mentales y emocionales, las memorias personales, la pervivencia corporal, la esencia espiritual y la posibilidad de la existencia del alma. Bruna paulatinamente llega a aceptar que su identidad surge de un …


Chivalry And Religion In Three Spanish Pro-Woman Treatises: Para Probar La Virtud Cuando La Tentaçión Es Rresistida..., Linda P. Gonzalez Jul 2017

Chivalry And Religion In Three Spanish Pro-Woman Treatises: Para Probar La Virtud Cuando La Tentaçión Es Rresistida..., Linda P. Gonzalez

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

ABSTRACT

Medieval authors repeatedly warned men of the dangers of going to hell due to their interactions with women. The authors listed here discuss the theological question of the act of contrition while warning men that they should repent for defaming women. This topic is present in the three following, pre-modern defenses about women where the men who wrote these treatises glorifiy the opposite sex for her ability to save man. The manuscripts examined in this project are: MS 9.985 Triunfo de las donas (1439-1441) by Juan Rodríguez del Padrón (c. 1390-1450), MS 1.341 Tratado de las virtuosas mugeres (1441) …


Frida's Daughter, Myrta Vida Apr 2017

Frida's Daughter, Myrta Vida

Theses

The purpose of my creative writing is to highlight a group of U.S. citizens still woefully underrepresented in literature proper: the Latinx middle class. I’m keenly interested in exploring Puerto Rican and first- and second-generation Latinx immigrant stories. Even though some of the experiences from these groups have been elegantly visited by writers such as Giannina Braschi, Sandra Cisneros, Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, and others, there are nuances to the Latinx middle class experience that are yet to be uncovered. Being stuck in the cultural, linguistic, socio-economic, and political middles in a country that has recently taken a largely nationalist …


MaríA De Zayas And The Art Of Breaking Free, Erin Cygan Jan 2017

MaríA De Zayas And The Art Of Breaking Free, Erin Cygan

Audre Lorde Prize

This paper analyzes a short story by the 17th-century Spanish author María de Zayas. In Her Lover’s Slave, Zayas’s protagonist Isabel Fajardo is raped and decides to transform into a Moorish slave woman in order to pursue her rapist throughout the Mediterranean and avenge her honor. I examine the effect of this transformation on Isabel, a Christian noblewoman who is subject to the restrictive honor code of early modern Spain, as well as the effect on her Spanish audience. I argue that Isabel’s tale sends didactic messages to early modern and contemporary readers, messages that promote solidarity among …