NiLP Guest Commentary: Fiction v Reality of Puerto Rican Independence ____________________________________ From: [email protected] To: guillo@aol Sent: 3/12/2014 9:05:56 A.M. SA Western Standard Time Subj: NiLP Guest Commentary: Fiction v Reality of Puerto Rican Independence Having trouble viewing this email? _Click here _ (campaign.r20.constantcontact/render?ca=68491901-a6ff-47f3-8d72-a970d7d2f614&c=5c03b18 0-32a7-11e3-93b7-d4ae52a82222&ch=5caebe90-32a7-11e3-93ef-d4ae52a82222) Hi, just a reminder that youre receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP). Dont forget to add [email protected] to your address book so well be sure to land in your inbox! You may _unsubscribe_ (visitor.constantcontact/do?p=un&m=001-JOCTjwxzZ2c1MIuWSz13Q==&ch=5caebe90-32a7-11e3-93ef-d4ae52a82222&ca=68491901-a6ff -47f3-8d72-a970d7d2f614) if you no longer wish to receive our emails. (s.rs6.net/t?e=0g7BxlS_crQ&c=1&r=1) (s.rs6.net/t?e=0g7BxlS_crQ&c=3&r=1) (s.rs6.net/t?e=0g7BxlS_crQ&c=4&r=1) (s.rs6.net/t?e=0g7BxlS_crQ&c=5&r=1) (myemail.constantcontact/NiLP-Guest-Commentary--Fiction-v-Reality-of-Puerto-Rican-Independence.ht ml?soid=1101040629095&aid=0g7BxlS_crQ#fblike) (visitor.constantcontact/email.jsp?m=1101040629095) National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) 25 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 800-590-2516 [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) _latinopolicy.org_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3Ko_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCen4aud3tWqXj-LzklOb1piiCSq7uVGGApKRxLp4BgmU- FpUrB5w_8lHPNfmAnEOpikgLsOqZJZCXDf8QtKA8A8QNPWjCSazcRA_Z3UzZrcPSLuE2otCH6ybK 0J3gWNuiw==&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFCEcD-RUFOJg==&ch=sC ZImFZYSbGok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) Board of Directors José R. Sánchez Chair Edgar DeJesus Secretary Israel Colon Treasurer Maria Rivera Development Chair Hector Figueroa Tanya K. Hernandez Angelo Falcón President To make a donation, Mail check or money order to the above address to the order of National Institute for Latino Policy Follow us on _Twitter_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3Ko_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCVydQZZ2CgcXmijEUyLg6rd0w90iFvtenFmtl9CW9r_D8 1Wdc88BgxMdvthehaL_qy7K6okp9mAGWhKr9hII8uM_PtwFWBxKKz3XbKsEtINJ6X8qp7OXCH8Wb y7FNLc0J-ZxaGCqrQPH&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFCEcD-RUFOJg ==&ch=sCZImFZYSbGok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) and _Angelos Facebook Page_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3Ko_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCVydQZZ2CgcXGs6YvX7laJz8EmCpT48S3J4Au6ZCQV ovn0hXYM-iLcs110Q-hSx7Z-t4f82K1TlNDBdMzACMndCG1Lo322WfpCBWeNFnJOt7N1v3NxNNvh j8wzf58bApc4HoqzGmQRSp&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFCEcD-RUF OJg==&ch=sCZImFZYSbGok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) Dream Nation: The Fiction Versus Reality of Puerto Rican Independence By María Acosta Cruz (March 12, 2014) Whether in or outside our countries, how does our national self-image depend on reality as opposed to fictions of the nation? What is the Puerto Rican nation? I address these questions in my book, _Dream Nation: Puerto Rican Culture and the Fictions of Independence_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3K o_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCdpC9KvQUtxnTOQT3dTTMuSX2KMhuBSHDNZeFIFGESeOZCOEiry3nN_xX6QzVCUpl6_NOSwxQeT3qVlC4ulq9xuYg2LBC-Pos JH1NX3ueFrP2U2nuTcmX3BmqRQiHNluUw8t0x5eRuQtvE8AdUvTbx4m7JwVGLGpwE30V7brsZEgp RBGkkDc5oA=&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFCEcD-RUFOJg==&ch=sC ZImFZYSbGok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) (Latinidad series: Rutgers University Press). The case of Puerto Rico is fascinating because a cultural nation sprung up in a territory in which the majority of people reject independence at the polls. However, Puerto Ricans feel they belong to a fully-formed nation in part because they have created a dream nation, which gives some relief from the shame of dependency. Many pro-independence writers, musicians and artists follow tradition and continue to wish for independence despite its rejection as a political option. Growing up in Cabo Rojo and later after relocating to Massachusetts, but always carrying love for my country with me, I wanted to explore that disconnect between culture and real life, between fictions and peoples actual lives. Time and again I found that Puerto Rican culture highlights stories, heroes and images of independence while neglecting the other two options for island status, the commonwealth and statehood, which are precisely the ones the majority of people on and off the island choose. I look at examples from Puerto Rican literature, history, and pop culture to emphasize how people can be moved by a cherished view of their homeland, a dream nation, an imagined verdant land in which people struggle for sovereignty. Symbols of independence have become embedded into the DNA of both highbrow and pop culture. For instance, a look at the 1,000 plus pages of Literatura puertorriqueña del siglo XX. Antología (Puerto Rican Literature of the Twentieth Century. Anthology) yields myriad references to the Puerto Rican dream nation. The same holds true in the songs and videos by Calle 13 - arguably the most famous Puerto Rican musicians of the twenty-first century. In both cases fictions of an independent Puerto Rico often depend on nostalgia linked to (defeated) heroes of independence as well as images of a premodern Lush Land paradise, one that has long since been decimated by overdevelopment and lack of planning along with many other socio-economic problems. La isla bonita is often the dream, forgetting the traffic jam that waits outside the door. The fifth chapter is devoted to Latino writing. Many so-called Nuyorican writers follow their island brethren and look back to Puerto Rico as a dream nation of imagination, of remembrance and nostalgia, often bolstering their themes, stories and images with the kinds of hardcore nationalism seen in culture from the island. Esmeralda Santiago is notable because she uses more than a dash of nostalgia and explicitly links Puerto Ricans in the States to the pursuit of island independence. The popularity of her manufactured Puerto Ricanness in When I Was Puerto Rican and other books proves that the dream sells well. Other Latina memoirists, for instance, Judith Ortiz Cofer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, offer more nuanced views about the broader changes the island has experienced. In any case, through their memories, sweet or sour, these Latina writers recreate the emotional resonance of being Latinas. Like a recurring dream, independence remains a deeply significant part of the Puerto Rican self-image: unreal, unattainable, yet constantly resurfacing in its culture. Creative, yes, but also stifling because reality, including what people really want, becomes overshadowed and remains unexplored. Since I feel these issues are crucial for the Puerto Rican community at large, I wrote in accessible, forthright prose, evading the jargon of academic literary studies. So far I have received many positive responses from both fellow academics and from members of the Puerto Rican community. But, as expected, there are people who take exception to any criticisms or even discussions of Puerto Rican independence and a few have left negative comments to my column for the _online journal 80grados_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3Ko_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCdpC9KvQUtxn47zRm qG2Lb_b2m97FxjPubm_-PSVL1H_30rJ9V8WIDiVjLDdX70DfRIGMN11r1aOdRmVk6CJEf4zuUfFO U5Kd4QOzVlvmjyew0voFVf5jQbfybZZCaJw8yKybyH-q9CTMF27gneOaowWTYd1809x9OsmZK61f W-g&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFCEcD-RUFOJg==&ch=sCZImFZYSb Gok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) . I hope the book offers a readable and provocative (in the best sense of the word) analysis of key aspects of Puerto Rican cultural production, with implications for how we all are affected by the stories told about our nations and their diasporas. Ultimately my interest is in how writers, painters, filmmakers and other culture producers give us stories, characters images and allegories that shaped how all Puerto Ricans are seen and see themselves. María Acosta Cruz is Associate Professor of Spanish at Clark University.. She received a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Her main research interests are Caribbean and Latino cultures. She explores issues such as the making and marketability of identities, Puerto Rican cultural history, and national and gender-based stereotypes. Her book Dream Nation: Puerto Rican Culture & the Fictions of Independence has just been published by _Rutgers University Press_ (r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001E2b_-4VVof3Ko_4tG7vP4na3Qsj5SkLu-5uLxwq_b9rmzCMTqXQcCdp C9KvQUtxnTOQT3dTTMuSX2KMhuBSHDNZeFIFGESeOZCOEiry3nN_xX6QzVCUpl6_NOSwxQeT3qVl C4ulq9xuYg2LBC-PosJH1NX3ueFrP2U2nuTcmX3BmqRQiHNluUw8t0x5eRuQtvE8AdUvTbx4m7Jw VGLGpwE30V7brsZEgpRBGkkDc5oA=&c=KNad0qABCLmIY8Zx4gYAgFqcvQUcihfZ1GoXXYqlwZFC EcD-RUFOJg==&ch=sCZImFZYSbGok7gDns8M-Fz8tb9svK3A4_tdozXQAu0pu8rVSQb81g==) and is also part of the American Literatures Initiative from NYU, Fordham, Temple and Virginia University Presses. The series has funding from the Mellon Foundation. 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Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 18:46:35 +0000