Counterpublics and Aesthetics: Afro-Hispanic and Belizean Women Writers. PDF
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University of Miami Scholarly Repository Open Access Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2011-05-03 Counterpublics and Aesthetics: Afro-Hispanic and Belizean Women Writers. Melva M. Persico University of Miami, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at:https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations Recommended Citation Persico, Melva M., "Counterpublics and Aesthetics: Afro-Hispanic and Belizean Women Writers." (2011).Open Access Dissertations. 539. https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/539 This Embargoed is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Scholarly Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI COUNTERPUBLICS AND AESTHETICS: AFRO-HISPANIC AND BELIZEAN WOMEN WRITERS By Melva Marguerite Persico A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Miami in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Coral Gables, Florida May 2011 ©2011 Melva Marguerite Persico All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy COUNTERPUBLICS AND AESTHETICS: AFRO-HISPANIC AND BELIZEAN WOMEN WRITERS Melva Marguerite Persico Approved: ___________________ ____________________ George Yúdice, Ph.D. Terri A. Scandura, Ph.D. Professor of Spanish Dean of the Graduate School and Latin American Studies _____________________ _____________________ Hugo Achugar, Ph.D. Lillian Manzor, Ph.D. Professor of Spanish Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies ______________________ ______________________ Elena Grau-Llevería, Ph.D. Eduardo Elena, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Spanish Assistant Professor of History PERSICO, MELVA M. (Ph.D., Romance Studies) Counterpublics and Aesthetics: (May 2011) Afro-Hispanic and Belizean Women Writers Abstract of a dissertation at the University of Miami Dissertation supervised by Professor George Yúdice No. of pages in text. (270) My project explores ways in which legitimacy is granted within the literary field. This is done through an analysis of literary anthologies, university course syllabi, publishing trends, literary prizes, and levels and sources of critical attention. The project seeks to determine the extent to which the works of Afro-descendant Spanish American and Belizean writers are reflected in the hegemonic Spanish American and Anglophone Caribbean literary canons. I examine the works of Cristina Rodríguez Cabral (Uruguay), Shirley Campbell Barr, and Delia McDonald Woolery (Costa Rica), and Zee Edgell, and Zoila Ellis (Belize). The project records the varying degrees of legitimation these writers have received and the factors that have had an impact on their recognition. It also shows that literary interculturality is possible in Spanish America and the Anglophone Caribbean through the aesthetics some writers employ and the activities of legitimizing agencies. Further I propose a plurality of canons based on the concept of plural public spheres/counterpublics as outlined by Nancy Fraser and Michael Warner. My analysis of Belizean works emphasizes ways in which a national literary canon can be considered a counterpublic within a regional literary corpus. The concept of counterpublics I use to present the works analyzed is a model other scholars can employ in their examination of other minority literatures. DEDICATORIO To the memory of my parents: Robert Montgomery Archer (1931-2004) and Melva Yvonne Ferrier-Archer (1927-2003). You would have been proud… To my loving, supportive family: Alan, Dacia, Mandisa. I could not have done this without you. iii Acknowledgments They say it takes a village… As overworked as this saying may seem, its truthfulness is evident in the work here presented. The large community to whom I extend profound gratitude is made up of family, friends, professors and colleagues. First of all I am extremely grateful to my Committee chair, Dr. George Yúdice for believing in the validity of my project, and for his guidance, perfectionism, and keen eye for detail. I thank also my committee members, Drs. Hugo Achugar, Lillian Manzor, Elena Grau-Llevería, and Eduardo Elena. Their willingness to serve and the various forms of assistance throughout this process are greatly appreciated. I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the assistance in the early stages of this project of Drs. Marc Brudzinski and Sandra Paquet who were with me at the beginning of the journey but for different reasons were unable to continue. I express my gratitude also to the faculty and staff of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami who have guided me through the years. I thank especially former Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Gema Pérez- Sánchez, and Dr. Elena Grau-Llevería who now holds that portfolio. I owe a debt of gratitude to Keyla Medina and Matt Lubeck for their assistance over the years. Thanks go to those outside my committee who assisted me by reading early versions of my work: my husband Alan, and my friend Felicity Crawford. I am eternally grateful to my colleague Salvador Raggio, who stepped in and helped on “submission day.” My gratitude is extended also to Alim Hosein, Romona Bennett, and Gentian Miller, my former colleagues in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies at the University iv of Guyana.The staff of the National Bureau of Statistics in Guyana especially Sharon Keuter and Vanessa Proffit were extremely helpful and I thank them for their kind assistance. The writers whose works I analyze in the study were all very helpful and gracious. Thank you: Zee Edgell, Zoila Ellis Brown, Shirley Campbell Barr, Delia McDonald Woolery, and Cristina Rodríguez Cabral. I thank the community of writers, academics, and colleagues who assisted me while abroad and who readily responded to my many e-mail requests for information and assistance especially: Felene Cayetano-Swaso and the staff of the Belize National Heritage Library, Adele Ramos, Lawrence Vernon, and Leo Obando - Belize; Franklin Perry, Magda Zavala, Rina Cáceres, Fernando Durán Ayanegui, Sylvie Durán, Patricia Fumero - Costa Rica; Edgardo Ortuño, Graciela Leguizamón, Beatriz Santos, Oscar Montaño, Jorge Chagas, Amanda Espinosa, Alejandro Gortázar - Uruguay. For their continuous support and friendship I thank Pat Reid, Patricia Mitchell, Lennie Coleman, and Sabrina Wengier. To my husband, Alan, my daughters Dacia and Mandisa - thank you for your love, your support, for putting up with me over the last five years, and for believing in me especially during those moments when I felt I could not complete this journey. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………………………..vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION. Counterpublics and Plural Aesthetics in Spanish America and the Anglophone Caribbean: Some Initial Concerns………1 I. Legitimation, Canonicity and Peripherality: The Case of Minority Literatures …………………………………………….15 II. Canon Worthiness and Spanish American Literature …………..44 III. Afro-Costa Rican and Afro-Uruguayan Women Writers and Aesthetics …………………………………………..103 IV. Aesthetics and Literature in the Anglophone Caribbean: A Look at Belizean Literature …………………………………...169 CONCLUSION. Afro-Hispanic and Belizean Literature: Current Challenges And Future Research ……………………………………………...237 WORKS CITED ………………………………………………………………………247 ANTHOLOGIES CONSULTED ……………………………………………………..266 vi
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