In other words, the experiences of Latinxs in the US cannot be separated from the US’s history as an empire, and in turn, the study of US literature-and by extension youth literature-must also include an examination of US imperialism. Particularly in the case of Latinxs, the dominant discourse lingers on issues of immigration and the border rather than seeing the Latinx presence in the US as a ‘harvest of empire’ (Gonzalez 2000). there has been a hesitancy to view the US as an empire, preferring an immigrant paradigm in locating difference rather than a settler colonial model regarding past and present land acquisition, occupation, removal, and continuous displacement of Indigenous populations. In fact, studying youth literature and culture means studying US literature and the study of US literature requires an examination of the US as an empire. For Jiménez García, the study of youth literature and culture does not occur in a void because these studies do not exist in their own ahistorical space. One such question which echoes throughout the monograph comes in her introduction: “How would our study of US literature change if we approached the US as a conglomeration of competing settler colonial projects-on Indigenous land-through race, class, gender, and language?” (19). In her careful analysis of youth literature, Jiménez García asks poignant questions that force the reader to reflect with her. Subsequently, the “side by side” dynamic is examined throughout the book with figures like Ángeles Pastor, Isabel Freire de Matos, Pura Belpré, Arturo Schomburg, Nicholasa Mohr, Sonia Manzano, Eric Velasquez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, to name a few. In the introduction, Jiménez García writes, “I use the phrase ‘side by side’ to refer to the dynamics of the US and Puerto Rico colonial relationship as one that is functionally dysfunctional, inherently close, and awkwardly ambiguous” (3). Through a focus on youth literature and culture, Jiménez García critically centers Afro-Boricua pedagogy to trace the roots of what is presently understood as youth literature and culture in the United States and “speaks to a movement back to community-based education and public projects of critical literacy” (5). Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture (UP Mississippi, 2021) by Marilisa Jiménez García is a timely monograph on the pervasiveness of US coloniality in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |