Writing Off the Hyphen: New Critical Perspectives on the Literature of the Puerto Rican Diaspora (American Ethnic and Cultural Studies)

The sixteen essays in "Writing Off the Hyphen" approach the literature of the Puerto Rican diaspora from current theoretical positions, with provocative and insightful The authors analyze how the diasporic experience of Puerto Ricans is played out in the context of class, race, gender, and sexuality and how other themes emerging from post-colonialism and post-modernism come into Their critical work also demonstrates an understanding of how the process of migration and the relations between Puerto Rico and the United States complicate notions of cultural and national identity as writers confront their bilingual, bicultural, and transnational The collection has considerable breadth and covers earlier, undertheorized writers such as Luisa Capetillo, Pedro Juan Labarthe, Bernardo Vega, Pura Belpre, Arturo Schomburg, and Graciany Miranda Prominent writers such as Rosario Ferre and Judith Ortiz Cofer are discussed alongside often-neglected writers such as Honolulu-based Rodney Morales and gay writer Manuel Ramos The essays cover all the genres and demonstrate that current theoretical ideas and approaches create exciting opportunities and possibilities for the study of Puerto Rican diasporic Jose Torres-Padilla is associate professor of English, State University of New York at Carmen Haydee Rivera is associate professor of English, University of Puerto