Keywords

Modernismo, Puerto Rican short fiction, Postcolonial literature, Cultural hybridity, José Luis González, Emilio Díaz Valcárcel

Abstract

Modernismo, an artistic and literary cultural movement that swept across Latin America, profoundly shaped Puerto Rican short fiction by introducing innovative narrative techniques before the novel gained prominence on the island. Emerging during the sociopolitical upheaval following the Spanish American War and Puerto Rico's annexation by the United States, modernismo responded to both European artistic trends and the cultural tensions of colonial transition. In my research, in Puerto Rico, Moderismo emerged in the short story before the novel. This research examines how Puerto Rican short stories by José Luis González and Emilio Díaz Valcárcel, from this era, grapple with themes of national identity, cultural resistance, and the complexities of assimilations into American norms. My analysis has raised these key questions: How does modernismo continue to influence and impact Puerto Rican as well as American literature? What significant literary works have emerged because of this movement? These questions lay the foundation of my argument that industrialization, politicization, and cultural marginalization fueled a modernismo revival in the early 1970s, whose impact and legacy can be interpreted through González’s “The Night We Became People Again” and Valcárcel’s “Black Sun.”

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Kane, Louise

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Identifier

DP0029291

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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