Identifier	Thesis 1684
Author	Ford, Rebecca
Title	Identity and culture divided : Latin literature in the U.S.
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication	2002
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Abstract	The purpose of this investigation is to examine the breakdown in both the personal and cultural identities of Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican immigrants who reside in the United States. Through various literary contributions made by contemporary U.S. writers the immigrant experience of these three groups shall be explored. A framework for defining one's identity shall be developed with the aid of other writers who specifically focus on the theme of identity. The identity of an individual is defined by numerous elements, which are in a perpetual state of change as the individual matures and develops. In his work Identity, Culture and the Postmodern World Madan Sarup argues that identity is a process which takes place over a lifetime as one creates his/her own personal history. The idea of an identity breakdown is really a process of transformation which the immigrant experiences in the new homeland. Sarup cites Peter Fuller's autobiography Marches Past in which he defines transformation as a person evolving from a former self to a newer self. This transformation occurs in stages, which Sarup illustrates through Eva Hoffman's biography Lost in Translation. The book is divided into three parts which Eva titles, "Paradise" "Exile" and "The New World." Each part represents a stage of transformation in identity from Fuller's former self, as a native of Poland, to her newer self, as an assimilated citizen in her adopted country of Canada. The three stages of transformation that Eva experiences represent the transformation that will take place in many of the main characters in the literary novels which have been chosen for analysis: Dreaming in Cuban, by Cristina Garca; How the Garca Girls Lost their Accents, by Julia lvarez; When I Was Puerto Rican, by Esmeralda Santiago. Although the inhabitants of these three nations reside in the same geographical locations and share some common characteristics, they clearly have their own distinctive identities, which have evolved throughout their histories. In order to understand these groups better a brief historical account will be given for each island. After clearly understanding the concept of identity and the history of these three groups the novels analyzed will result is a transformation from a former self to a newer self, which takes place in all but a few of the main characters in each of the three novels. In addition a better understanding of these three specific groups will occur as they walk the reader through the process of assimilating into a culture and a society different from their own.
Subject	Latin literature
Department	Department of Modern Languages
Advisor	García-Lozada, Antonio
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	spa
OCLC number	713734084
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Identity and culture divided : Latin literature in the U.S.

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