¡Palabra!: Black Identity in the Literature of the Spanish Caribbean

In her analysis the author applies the theory of "deterritorialization" as proposed by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, who study the use of the dominant language by a minority for the creation of a style alien to that of the standard. The creation of this style offers another possibility of expression for that particular group. Through the application of this theory she illustrates how the Ana Lydia Vega, Blas Jiménez, and Nancy Morejón significantly question the national values that shaped the thought of Caribbean society, as they humanize the image of blacks by depicting real and legitimate dimensions of the black psyche in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. The author was born in New York City of Puerto Rican parents and grew up in Brooklyn. She began her university study in Brooklyn. She went to Spain to learn Spanish for a year, dropped out of the university, hitched-hiked throughout Europe and landed a job in Sweden. Eventually, she returned to New York and continued her studies. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Her area of specialization is Latin American literature with a focus on Caribbean literature. As she has continued to research Afro-Caribbean literature of the Spanish-speaking islands, she has delved into twentieth-century Afro-American literature as well as the Caribbean Francophone literature. Dr. Pardo is Professor of Spanish at the University of Central Oklahoma.