tema de la identidad is exchanged for tema de “[e]l gran latinoamericana (¿quiénes somos?)” “el la identidad (15). Imperial power, a form of colonialism, is no less a part personal (¿quién soy?)” of and past than it is for any part of Latin America or the Caribbean. In fact, Fuguet’s Gómez’s to power in Chile—the country both Fuguet and Gómez come from-- was Pinochet’s rise orchestrated by the U.S. as was his later reign of terror. The editors of as is the case for McOndo, the writers it includes, make a conscious decision to no longer allow Empire or its limits to restrict their imaginations or their memories. They arrive at an emphasis on the personal by ignoring and even thumbing their noses at the pressures of the new colonialism, globalizing capitalism. They do this by not conforming to the demands of foreign editors and publishing houses that expect Latin American literature to produce magical real narratives, texts that are concerned with national identity or those that transparently reflect Latin American reality such as testimonials or autobiographies. A similar decision has been made by several Puerto Rican writers with different effects; two I would like to focus on here are Giannina Braschi and Mayra Santos would fit nicely within the parameters outlined by Fuguet Febres. Braschi’s entire opus and Gómez, since it is more concerned with personal identity and the interrelations of subject and other. Mayra Santos (2003), would also Sirena Selena vestida de pena Febres’s first novel, fit in with the group, but her most recent novel, (2006), McOndo Nuestra señora de la noche demonstrates signs of colonial hauntings. This last novel shows how powerful the grip of colonialism is in Puerto Rico and how forceful are the ghosts of its past. (1998) is a novel that is told oscillating between Spanish and Yo yo Boing Braschi’s, English. At times Braschi uses the same verbal play one would expect in any interlingual text written by a member of the Diaspora, but there are also entire chapters, like the first one, told in Spanish with little influence of English. The first chapter or section aptly called “Close-up”
“[e]l gran tema de la identidad latinoamericana (¿quiénes somos?)” is exchanged for “el tema de la identidad personal (¿quién soy?)” (15). Imperial power, a form of colonialism, is no less a part of Fuguet’s and Gómez’s past than it is for any part of Latin America or the Caribbean. In fact, Pinochet’s rise to power in Chile—the country both Fuguet and Gómez come from-- was orchestrated by the U.S. as was his later reign of terror. The editors of McOndo, as is the case for the writers it includes, make a conscious decision to no longer allow Empire or its limits to restrict their imaginations or their memories. They arrive at an emphasis on the personal by ignoring and even thumbing their noses at the pressures of the new colonialism, globalizing capitalism. They do this by not conforming to the demands of foreign editors and publishing houses that expect Latin American literature to produce magical real narratives, texts that are concerned with national identity or those that transparently reflect Latin American reality such as testimonials or autobiographies. A similar decision has been made by several Puerto Rican writers with different effects; two I would like to focus on here are Giannina Braschi and Mayra Santos Febres. Braschi’s entire opus would fit nicely within the parameters outlined by Fuguet and Gómez, since it is more concerned with personal identity and the interrelations of subject and other. Mayra Santos Febres’s first novel, Sirena Selena vestida de pena (2003), would also fit in with the McOndo group, but her most recent novel, Nuestra señora de la noche (2006), demonstrates signs of colonial hauntings. This last novel shows how powerful the grip of colonialism is in Puerto Rico and how forceful are the ghosts of its past. Braschi’s, Yo yo Boing (1998) is a novel that is told oscillating between Spanish and English. At times Braschi uses the same verbal play one would expect in any interlingual text written by a member of the Diaspora, but there are also entire chapters, like the first one, told in Spanish with little influence of English. The first chapter or section aptly called “Close-up”