{"product_id":"on-latinidad-us-latino-literature-and-the-construction-of-ethnicity-9780813034485","title":"On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the first book to address head-on the question of how Latino\/a literature wrestles with the pan-ethnic and trans-racial implications of the \"Latino\" label.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRefusing to take \u003ci\u003elatinidad \u003c\/i\u003e(Latino-ness) for granted, Marta Caminero-Santangelo lays the groundwork for a sophisticated understanding of the various manifestations of \"Latino\" identity. She examines texts by prominent Chicano\/a, Dominican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American writers--including Julia Alvarez, Cristina García, Achy Obejas, Piri Thomas, and Ana Castillo--and concludes that a pre-existing \"group\" does not exist. The author instead argues that much recent Latino\/a literature presents a vision of tentative, forged solidarities in the service of particular and sometimes even local struggles. She shows that even magical realism can figure as a threat to collectivity, rather than as a signifier of it, because magical connections--to nature, between characters, and to Latin American origins--can undermine efforts at solidarity and empowerment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the author's close reading of both fictional and cultural narratives, she suggests the possibility that Latino identity may be even more elastic than the authors under question recognize.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarta Caminero-Santangelo is associate professor of English at the University of Kansas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University Press of Florida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50845476094226,"sku":"9780813034485","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_91e0d5c5-d34e-4233-84c2-891cb4447cd3.jpg?v=1737351871","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/on-latinidad-us-latino-literature-and-the-construction-of-ethnicity-9780813034485","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}