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Becoming Julia de Burgos: The Making of a Puerto Rican Icon
While it is rare for a poet to become a cultural icon, Julia de Burgos has evoked feelings of bonding and identification in Puerto Ricans and Latinos in the United States for over half a century.
In the first book-length study written in English, Vanessa Pérez-Rosario examines poet and political activist Julia de Burgos's development as a writer, her experience of migration, and her legacy in New York City, the poet's home after 1940. Pérez-Rosario situates Julia de Burgos as part of a transitional generation that helps to bridge the historical divide between Puerto Rican nationalist writers of the 1930s and the Nuyorican writers of the 1970s. Becoming Julia de Burgos departs from the prevailing emphasis on the poet and intellectual as a nationalist writer to focus on her contributions to New York Latino/a literary and visual culture. It moves beyond the standard tragedy-centered narratives of de Burgos's life to place her within a nuanced historical understanding of Puerto Rico's peoples and culture to consider more carefully the complex history of the island and the diaspora. Pérez-Rosario unravels the cultural and political dynamics at work when contemporary Latina/o writers and artists in New York revise, reinvent, and riff off of Julia de Burgos as they imagine new possibilities for themselves and their communities.
In the first book-length study written in English, Vanessa Pérez-Rosario examines poet and political activist Julia de Burgos's development as a writer, her experience of migration, and her legacy in New York City, the poet's home after 1940. Pérez-Rosario situates Julia de Burgos as part of a transitional generation that helps to bridge the historical divide between Puerto Rican nationalist writers of the 1930s and the Nuyorican writers of the 1970s. Becoming Julia de Burgos departs from the prevailing emphasis on the poet and intellectual as a nationalist writer to focus on her contributions to New York Latino/a literary and visual culture. It moves beyond the standard tragedy-centered narratives of de Burgos's life to place her within a nuanced historical understanding of Puerto Rico's peoples and culture to consider more carefully the complex history of the island and the diaspora. Pérez-Rosario unravels the cultural and political dynamics at work when contemporary Latina/o writers and artists in New York revise, reinvent, and riff off of Julia de Burgos as they imagine new possibilities for themselves and their communities.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 7, 2019
While I’m wary of picking up non-fiction titles, and even more wary of writing about them, this one book made me super glad for having chosen to read it. It opened my eyes up to the blazing and majestic personality of one of the most prominent icons in Latino literature circles, Julia de Burgos. What captivated me most was the fact that the author decided to move away from focusing on mundane tragedy-cantered themes of memoirs, and has focused instead on taking us through the life and times of de Burgos, starting with her fiery political thoughts, her impact on the generations, and how de Burgos set lasting standards in the field of Latino writing. An absolute treat for memoir lovers.
December 6, 2014
This is the first book from an academic press that I’ve ever tried to review, and one of the first (if not first) biographical type of books I’ve worked with from a reviewer’s perspective. I picked it up because I love poetry, I enjoy the Spanish language, and the description made me curious to learn about de Burgos.
The beginning of this book was perfect – setting up and explaining to the (potentially) unfamiliar reader some of the Puerto Rican struggles with history, place, identity, and destiny. It then moved into a brief but substantial overview of literary (and political) responses to the struggles of the island nation. As a US citizen, I’ve been exposed to very little of this history or viewpoint, and I found it educational and tragic. Especially saddening was the fact that I knew so little about the Puerto Rican paradigm.
The book then moves into the strictly biographical portion of the text. All told, this was probably about half of the total length of the text. Initially I found this troubling, because I expected (wanted) a hefty biography about an individual – but this book does something a little different, which also is an important undertaking.
Even as we learn about the specifics of the life of de Burgos, we are also looking at the more general situation of immigrants in the US, using the eyes and experiences of de Burgos as our lens. Especially important in this book is the specific situation and personal experience of de Burgos, but also the wider experience of Latino/as and African Americans in New York City. There are following sections of the book looking at her work, particularly her poetry (for which she is most famous), and her writings as a journalist (which seems to get very sparse critical attention, though speaks very powerfully).
The final sections of the book view the different ways that de Burgos has been taken up as a role model by later generations of writers, performers, and visual artists. Interesting to track is the way she has been used not only by Latino/a and African American artists, but also by other groups which have faced persecution and marginalization, particularly LGBTQ and feminist groups. I thought a lot of this section was weaker than other parts of the book, seeing that Rosario (the author) pulls largely from other writers and ideas to fill out her perspective – but as I continued to think about it after my reading was finished, I also realized that this section of the book was not only informative, but was also important for understanding the development of (especially) minority LGBTQ and feminist writers of color in the US. This last section of the book ended up being very good, and supporting the author’s larger purpose (I just selfishly wanted the end purpose to be shining more light on de Burgos – but her larger goals were just as important).
My final wrap-up and thoughts…this was definitely more of an academic approach to the life and works of Julia de Burgos than a personal/traditional biography (which makes sense, given the publisher). It puts her firmly in a particular place on the Puerto Rican pantheon of writers and thinkers. Though academic, this is a highly readable book, giving the reader ample background and context, as well as providing quality translations of de Burgos’ writings (also includes the Spanish-language original texts). There is a good deal of analysis of her poetry, which is also contrasted with what her predecessors and contemporaries were writing, as well as the writings of those who followed in her footsteps. We also get quite a glimpse into the related politics, since she was heavily involved in political commentary and protests.
“Fashioning the Self” was my favorite section of the book, which traced her own struggles with societal expectations versus what she wanted for her self…expectations versus personal ideals. I left straight from my reading of this book to dive into the poetry of Julia de Burgos
http://www.matthewejackson.com/uncate...
The beginning of this book was perfect – setting up and explaining to the (potentially) unfamiliar reader some of the Puerto Rican struggles with history, place, identity, and destiny. It then moved into a brief but substantial overview of literary (and political) responses to the struggles of the island nation. As a US citizen, I’ve been exposed to very little of this history or viewpoint, and I found it educational and tragic. Especially saddening was the fact that I knew so little about the Puerto Rican paradigm.
The book then moves into the strictly biographical portion of the text. All told, this was probably about half of the total length of the text. Initially I found this troubling, because I expected (wanted) a hefty biography about an individual – but this book does something a little different, which also is an important undertaking.
Even as we learn about the specifics of the life of de Burgos, we are also looking at the more general situation of immigrants in the US, using the eyes and experiences of de Burgos as our lens. Especially important in this book is the specific situation and personal experience of de Burgos, but also the wider experience of Latino/as and African Americans in New York City. There are following sections of the book looking at her work, particularly her poetry (for which she is most famous), and her writings as a journalist (which seems to get very sparse critical attention, though speaks very powerfully).
The final sections of the book view the different ways that de Burgos has been taken up as a role model by later generations of writers, performers, and visual artists. Interesting to track is the way she has been used not only by Latino/a and African American artists, but also by other groups which have faced persecution and marginalization, particularly LGBTQ and feminist groups. I thought a lot of this section was weaker than other parts of the book, seeing that Rosario (the author) pulls largely from other writers and ideas to fill out her perspective – but as I continued to think about it after my reading was finished, I also realized that this section of the book was not only informative, but was also important for understanding the development of (especially) minority LGBTQ and feminist writers of color in the US. This last section of the book ended up being very good, and supporting the author’s larger purpose (I just selfishly wanted the end purpose to be shining more light on de Burgos – but her larger goals were just as important).
My final wrap-up and thoughts…this was definitely more of an academic approach to the life and works of Julia de Burgos than a personal/traditional biography (which makes sense, given the publisher). It puts her firmly in a particular place on the Puerto Rican pantheon of writers and thinkers. Though academic, this is a highly readable book, giving the reader ample background and context, as well as providing quality translations of de Burgos’ writings (also includes the Spanish-language original texts). There is a good deal of analysis of her poetry, which is also contrasted with what her predecessors and contemporaries were writing, as well as the writings of those who followed in her footsteps. We also get quite a glimpse into the related politics, since she was heavily involved in political commentary and protests.
“Fashioning the Self” was my favorite section of the book, which traced her own struggles with societal expectations versus what she wanted for her self…expectations versus personal ideals. I left straight from my reading of this book to dive into the poetry of Julia de Burgos
http://www.matthewejackson.com/uncate...
February 3, 2015
This book is a very well written book about the life and work of poet and author Julia de Burgos from a Latino studies perspective. We are taken on a journey through her life and the significance and importance of her work. I am a new reader to the poetry of Julia de Burgos, and I am thankful for the author for helping put much of what I have read into context. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Puerto Rico and its history, particularly in literature.
October 27, 2014
Very interesting! I love learning about other cultures and this was enlightening.
January 18, 2015
You can read my review at HipLatina magazine!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews