Literary Currency: Coined Contributions of Latin@ Literature in the United States

Abstract

It the beginning of the twenty-first century, the key themes in U.S. Latin@ literature are identity, gender, inequality, racism, language, sexuality, the importance and centrality of the Latino family, and the inscription of physical Latin@ representations of subjectivity, spirituality, and agency. Since the early 1980s, issues of class and gender have emerged, and thematics dealing with the middle class are building greater presence. While all Latin®1 groups share identity invigilation, racism, family, gender, and class issues, the literary production of each Latino group is unique. For example, exile is a theme that reoccurs continuously in Cuban American literature, but exile is destierr? (exile), a particularly different twist on exile that literally means the “delanding” or “unlanding,” that is, taking land away from a people. In Puerto Rican literature the themes of independence, territory, nationalism, and invasions in all metaphorical senses are central and well recognized. For Latin@s born outside of the United States, issues of the reformulation of identity and in particular the floating fluctuations of social class are essential, adding many dialectical shifting side ladders to the bridge of immigration. In contemporary Chican@ literature, the themes that are resurging are spirituality, migration, immigration, sexuality, social consciousness, and death. Finally, for Chican@s and Puerto Ricans, the geographic attack on bilingualism, language, and in particular the Spanish language is central because for the most part, third- or fourth-generation Chican@s and Puerto Ricans living in the United States have had to oftentimes begrudgingly give up the Spanish dominance of their parents and grandparents.KeywordsShort StoryLiterary MovementPuerto Rican WomanBantam BookPredominant ThemeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.