Entry Discussion

What ethical considerations does Gonsalez establish regarding tourism and diaspora? What is his notion of “belonging” (pages 259-261)?

What distinction does Gonsalez propose between chronological history and the history of the body? (267-268)

What connection do the desire for “belonging” and the “history of the body” have with Latinx writing?

History of Latinx Literature: an Overview by Dr. Norma Cantú

+ On the east coast

.19th Century- Revolutionary political writing in NYC (wars [Cuba] and revolts [Puerto Rico] for independence and abolition)

.Early 20th century- Negrista movements (Black Antillean/diasporic consciousness); First Hispano organizations (workers’ chronicles and poetry); reflections about the traumas of displacement and diaspora; Puerto Rican decolonization (ongoing)

.1960s-1970s- Nuyorican movement (Black and Puerto Rican political and poetic coalitions); evolution of oral and music lineages; urban literature; leads to Hip Hop culture; creation of ethnic studies departments and small presses dedicated to poetry (ongoing)

.1990s-to the present- opening of niche literary markets; slam poetry; Hip Hop theater; online self-publication; Young Adult Literature

Latinx Poetics, as understood by Gonsalez et al.

Pick ONE of the following four proposals and discuss with a partner what you understand and what you don’t.

.José Martí’s “Nuestra América”: Black and Indigenous consciousness is distinct from European mindsets (268-269)

.Édouard Glissant: time reconstruction; disjointness; out of the linearity of “time” (269-270)

.Junot Díaz, Henry David Thoreau and Toni Morrison: the past continues to plague contemporary Black and Latinx subjects (270-271)

.Claudia Rankine, Jean Toomer, and Salvador Plascencia: irrationality; struggle against the reason imposed upon us (272-274)

Conclusion

On an index card, summarize Gonsalez’s definition of Latinx Literature on page 274.