CARMEN HAYDtE RIVERA


location in constructing it. In short, the criticism of the literature of the
Puerto Rican diaspora has entered, like the literature itself, into the discursive
space of postcolonialism and postmodernism. Any literature will breed a
body of critical work that usually parallels significant developments in its
primary texts, and the literature of the Puerto Rican diaspora is no different.




Notes

' Jorge Duany defines transnationalism "as the establishment of frequent and intense
social, economic, political, and cultural links between two or more countries." He
goes on to add that one must consider Puerto Rico's lack of sovereignty when using
this definition and "therefore the analytic distinction between state and nation must
be made carefully" (216). See Puerto Rican Nation on the Move, Identities on the Island
and in the United States (U of North Carolina Press, 2002).
2See Edna Acosta-Belen, et al., "Adi6s Borinquen Querida ": The Puerto Rican Diaspora,
Its History, and Contributions (CELAC, 2000) for in-depth analysis of how Puerto Rico's
social, economic, and political relationship with the U.S. uniquely positions the island
as a "commuter nation."
3"A Summary of Puerto Rican Migration to the United States" in Challenging Fronteras:
Structuring Latina and Latino Lives in the United States (Routledge, 1997).
4Another examination of the historical process of Puerto Rican migration to the United
States can be found in Virginia SAnchez Korrol's From Colonia to Community: The
History of Puerto Ricans in New York City (U of California Press, 1994). For a pictorial
presentation of the first wave, see Pioneros: Puerto Ricans in New York City, 1896-1948,
edited by Felix V. Matos-Rodriguez and Pedro Juan Hernandez (Arcadia/Tempus
Publishing, 2001). See also Edna Acosta-Belen's "The Building of a Community: Puerto
Rican Writers and Activists in New York City (1890s-1960s)" in Recovering the U.S.
Hispanic Literary Heritage, vol. 1. (Houston: Arte Piblico, 1993) 179-195.
SAlthough Rodriguez provides us with a very convenient structure for analyzing the
various waves of Puerto Rican migration to the United States, we are indebted to Juan
Flores for providing an earlier framework of the development of Puerto Rican literature
of the diaspora in his seminal essay, "Puerto Rican Literature in the United States:
Stages and Perspectives," which will be discussed further in the pages to follow.
6"Qu6 assimilated, brother, yo soy asimilao:" The Structuring of Puerto Rican Identity
in the U.S." Divided Borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity (Arte Publico Press, 1993).
7lnAdi6s, Borinquen Querida the authors provide extensive discussion and examples
of what came to be known as "models of cultural deficiency" that portrayed Puerto
Ricans as uncultured, uneducated, economically disadvantaged, and non-
assimilationists with deficient traditions, customs, and family structure. The main
purpose of Acosta-Bel6n's study (and many other scholars, writers, sociologists, and
historians) is precisely to debunk the myths of an unorganized and culturally weak
Puerto Rican migrant community.