tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post8744234499782800481..comments2023-09-12T06:18:38.552-04:00Comments on The World in the Satin Bag: The Preliminary PhD Reading List: Hard Times Ahead (or, Yay Caribbean Literature)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-5560127384783846032012-05-14T14:57:12.731-04:002012-05-14T14:57:12.731-04:00Depending on how you interpret "The Caribbean...Depending on how you interpret "The Caribbean," there are a lot of Spanish and French-language writers that cover some of the themes you seem to be striking at (for purposes of my suggestion for consultation materials, I'm going to add Colombia):<br /><br />Alejo Carpentier (Cuban) - there are several works of his that dance around the issue of empire, but I think his <i>The Lost Steps</i> is a good place to start, along with <i>Baroque Concert</i>.<br /><br />Julia Alvarez (Dominican) - <i>In the Time of the Butterflies</i> deals with the Trujillo dictatorship of the mid-20th century.<br /><br />José Martí (Cuban) - so much of his late 19th century writing, both poetry and prose alike, is applicable here. I believe most of it has been translated into English in recent years. He's akin to the spiritual Father of the Cuban Revolution of the 1880s-1898.<br /><br />Giannina Braschi (Puerto Rican) - Her writings, whether they are in Spanish, Spanglish, or English or if they are prose or poetry, deal with the complex relationships of Puerto Ricans with the US (and by extension, Latin Americans with the US).<br /><br />Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Cuban) - <i>A View of Dawn in the Tropics</i> is one of several works, fiction and non-fiction alike, that he's written that touches upon some of the core issues.<br /><br />Gabriel García Márquez (Colombian) - OHYS alone would make for a good reference point, particularly the second half with the United Banana Company scenes. <i>Autumn of the Patriarch</i> is another applicable one.<br /><br />And if you include, as some occasionally do, Nicaragua in with the Caribbean, you will have two of the greatest Latin American poets of the 20th century, Rubén Darío and Ernesto Cardenal, to reference. Darío's poem on Teddy Roosevelt alone is worth noting, but there are several others of equal prowess and biting commentary on American imperialism.<br /><br />Sadly, I'm almost completely ignorant of Haitian literature, despite being able to speak a little bit of the language.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com