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Social and cultural influences on personal identity
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Globalization has resulted in blurred lines of cultural identities. More people are moving across borders due to labor, immigration, and forming new spaces in their host countries. The heterogeneity created by this globalization features the already existing culture or cultures of the host country, people who fight to maintain and preserve their cultural identity by rejecting the influences of other cultures, and others who readily adopt new hybrid identities. The negotiations for an identity and the struggle for their place in the host country can be understood in the ways Zadie Smith and Junot Díaz examine their characters construction of identities under the influences of history, host country, and battling cultures. Smith’s White Teeth and Díaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, feature narratives that jump into the past to offer the reader the historical prelude to the characters’ lives. Díaz and Smith point to history’s influence on shaping the identities of the characters living in a diaspora and how it is an inescapable fate.
Communities that are formed from these displaced peoples result in a diaspora. Trying to define or find a paradigm for the term diaspora is a challenge as Anthropologist James Clifford discusses in his article “Diasporas.” He explores previous discourses and definitions of diaspora where he notes the criteria is impossible to fulfill for all cultural groups, he writes, “But we should be wary of constructing our working definition of a term as diaspora by recourse to an ‘ideal type,’ with the consequence that groups become identified as more or less diasporic” (306). His perspective of diaspora “involves dwelling, maintaining communities, having collective homes away from home (and i...
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...Princeton: Princeton UP, 2010. Print.
Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. Ed. Jonathan Rutherford. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998. 222-37. Print.
Lanzendörfer, Tim. “The Marvelous History of the Dominican Republic in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S. 38.2 (2013): 127-142. Project MUSE. Web.
Sáez, Elena Machado. “Dictating Desire, Dictating Diaspora: Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as Foundational Romance.” Contemporary Literature 52.3 (2011): 522-55. JSTOR. Web.
Smith, Zadie. White Teeth: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2000. Epub.
Tim Lanzendörfer. “The Marvelous History of the Dominican Republic in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S. 38.2 (2013): 127-142. Project MUSE. Web.
de Besault, Lawrence. President Trujillo: His work and the Dominican Republic. Santiago: Editorial El Diario, 1941.
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
In the early 1930’s, the Dominican Republic elected a new president by the name of Rafael Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo was a ruthless and selfish dictator even before he won the election. To win the election, he used his connections to kill supporters of the opposing candidates. Rafael Trujillo used his powers to oppress and murder masses of people (2 ”Rafael Trujillo”). Even though he was initially seen as a beneficial leader, Rafael Trujillo was proven to be an evil dictator.
Junot Díaz’s Drown, a collection of short stories, chronicles the events of Yunior and his family. Each story focuses Yunior and his struggle growing up as a Dominican immigrant and finding a place for himself within American society. Throughout the progression of the novel, Yunior realizes the stereotypes placed on him and recognizes that being white is advantageous. Yunior’s experience growing up both in the Dominican Republic and the States has shaped his perspective on life and life choices.
Crassweller, Robert D. Trujillo: The life and times of a Caribbean dictator. New York: Macmillan.1966.
He left Yunior a letter telling him he lost it to Ybon when they went on vacation. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz shows how the Dominican Republic influenced the superstitions, the Cane fields, and the male dominance. In the end, Oscar dies because of the love he spent his life searching for. He sees that he gained it, but at the cost of his life. He expressed the happiness of love in the end, right before he died.
In order to understand the current situation of Puerto Ricans one must look at their history and retrace the sequence of events that led to the current formation of the Puerto Rican people. An important component of this history is the time Puerto Rico spent under Spanish rule. Studying this portion of Puerto Rican history forces us to acknowledge the contribution the Spaniards, European immigrants, and African slaves had on Puerto Rican identity as we consider it today. This also addresses contemporary debates on Puerto Rican identity. An example of this is evident in an essay written by Jose Luis Gonzales entitled "Puerto Rico : Th Four Storied Country". In the article Gonzales points out what he feels is a disregard toward the African contribution to the Puerto Rican identity. He argues that the first Puerto Ricans were black , based on his interpretation that Africans were the first group to come to Puerto Rico and reproduce who did not have ties to a "motherland" because they were slaves. This is unlike the Spaniard elites and Criolles that demonstrated their commitment and loyalty to Spain. Since they had no other place to go, Puerto Rico was their motherland. Gonzalez also points out that the culture of a region is always the culture of the elite, not the popular culture.
Gonzales, Jose Luis. Puerto Rico: the Four Storeyed Country and Other Essays (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishing Inc.)1-30.
Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is focused on the hyper-masculine culture of the Dominican, and many argue that his portrayal of the slew of women in the novel is misogynistic because they are often silenced by the plot and kept out of the narration (Matsui). However, Diaz crafts strong women, and it is society that views them as objects. The novel recognizes the masculine lens of the culture while still examining the lives of resilient women. In this way, the novel showcases a feminist stance and critiques the misogynist culture it is set in by showcasing the strength and depth of these women that help to shape the narrative while acknowledging that it is the limits society places on them because of their sexuality
Trujillo use of violence and challenge of political authority demonstrated that from the very beginning he created an insurgency regime within his military ranks that oppressed his country. Which 30 years later, his own military generals and freedom fighters will be the very ones to end his reign. To this very day, some of the Dominican people whether living in the United States or Dominican Republic are hesitate to talk about it, but are glad that it is in the past and
Rafael Trujillo was the infamous dictator of the Dominican Republic. He was often feared by some and loved by others. Trujillo often attracted followers by utilizing his sexual intrigue. He would take advantage of woman to boost his political power and to put his subjugates on a higher pedestal . Trujillo also changed the “common Dominican household”, with this being he aided in changing the gender relations between males and females. Trujillo also utilized the infamous trait that various men from Latin America take pride, Machismo. With this being said Trujillo utilized gender relation, sexual intrigue and machismo to his favor to get the citizens to jump on his bandwagon causing them to legitimately agree with his regime.
The Dominican Republic under the Trujillo regime was considered one of the most violent eras ever in the Americas. In The Time of The Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, commemorates the lives of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal. These women were known as “Las Mariposas” because of their direct involvement in an underground revolution against Trujillo. In the story, the Mirabel sisters are women with childhoods, hopes, and dreams, who fight for the liberation of their country. After their assassination, they became symbols of freedom and revolution for persecuted peoples all over the world. The Mirabal sisters not only fought against the Trujillo regime, but also opposed the unfair gender roles of that time. In the Dominican Republic,
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina reigned over the Dominican Republic in a dictatorship, extending over thirty years. He is known as having been the “most ruthless dictator in Latin America.” However, there is another side to the story. Trujillo was the third son of a humble sheep herder and worked as a sugar plantation guard in his adolescent years. He enlisted in the United States Marines Corp during the U.S.’s occupation in the Dominican Republic. He built himself up to National Commander and claimed presidency in 1930. He was a man known to be surrounded by “a surfeit of booze, women, wealth, power, and enemies.” Until his final years, he was admired by the Dominican people and seen as a demi-god and savior. During his first prosperous years
Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, set in the late 1900’s, tells a story of Oscar Wao, an overweight Dominican “ghetto nerd”, his mother and rebellious sister who live together in Paterson, New Jersey. Throughout the novel, Diaz incorporates many different stories about each character that show acts of resistance. One of the most prominent stories of resistance in the novel is through Oscar’s mom; Beli, who is prompted by great tragedy, known as the Trujillo curse, to love atomically and thus follow a dangerous path. Beli’s family history plays a large role in her choices that eventually compel her into a different life than what her adopted mother, La Inca, had wanted
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.