The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United States (Paperback)

~ (Author) "More than one hundred years ago, the French scholar Ernest Renan (1990[1882]) posed the question, "What is a nation?..." (more)
Key Phrases: historical patrimony, flying bus, hometown clubs, Puerto Rican, Puerto Rico, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An intelligent theoretical comprehension."
— IBEROAMERICANA/NOTAS

"This wide-ranging exploration of Puerto Rican identity, past and present, is as notable for the breadth and originality of Duany's research as for his impressive ability to present complex interpretations in a clear and accessible way. (Nancy Morris, author of Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity)"

Product Description

Puerto Ricans maintain a vibrant identity that bridges two very different places--the island of Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland. Whether they live on the island, in the States, or divide time between the two, most imagine Puerto Rico as a separate nation and view themselves primarily as Puerto Rican. At the same time, Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917, and Puerto Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1952.

Jorge Duany uses previously untapped primary sources to bring new insights to questions of Puerto Rican identity, nationalism, and migration. Drawing a distinction between political and cultural nationalism, Duany argues that the Puerto Rican "nation" must be understood as a new kind of translocal entity with deep cultural continuities. He documents a strong sharing of culture between island and mainland, with diasporic communities tightly linked to island life by a steady circular migration. Duany explores the Puerto Rican sense of nationhood by looking at cultural representations produced by Puerto Ricans and considering how others--American anthropologists, photographers, and museum curators, for example--have represented the nation. His sources of information include ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, interviews, surveys, censuses, newspaper articles, personal documents, and literary texts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (December 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807853720
• ISBN-13: 978-0807853726
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #595,255 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)