| dc.description.abstract | My dissertation focuses on the works of four Latin American writers of Chinese origin: Regino Pedroso from Cuba, Siu Kam Wen from Peru, Óscar Wong from Mexico, and Carlos Francisco Changmarín from Panama. I discuss how first- and second-generation writers rely upon literature to reevaluate and renegotiate their identities. The introduction represents the methodological framework which stems from transcultural, orientalism, translation, and subaltern perspectives. Chapter One explains the trans-Pacific migration of this ethnic group to Peru, Cuba, Mexico and Panama, the social and economic climate in which they were entering, and their cultural contributions. This chapter will also provide an overview of Chinese-Latin American writers in those countries. Chapter Two concentrates on the notions of double consciousness and self-orientalization as they appear in the poetry of Regino Pedroso. Chapter Three covers issues dealing with transculturation, resistance and assimilation in Siu Kam Wen's narratives. In chapter Four, the Mexican poet Óscar Wong infuses his Mayan and Chinese heritage into his poetry creating new spaces and possibilities. In chapter Five, Carlos Francisco Changmarín works to incorporate subaltern voices into his narratives by rewriting history and developing texts that speak from the margins. I conclude that the literary works of this unrecognized group problematize the notion of homogenous identity and provide new personal and collective histories that question the construction of binary oppositions when dealing with issues of race, ethnicity, and class. | |
