Puerto Rican Nation on the Move - by Jorge Duany (Paperback)

About the Book

Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United States

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

An engaging, thought-provoking and comprehensive examination of the meaning of nationhood through multiple representations of Puerto Rican identity throughout the last century. . . . Writing in a clear and concise manner, Duany's work greatly enhances our understanding of how identities evolve and are transformed, not a simple task given the political, cultural and demographic complexities surrounding the Puerto Rican case. . . . An important and timely contribution to the field of Puerto Rican and Latino studies specifically, and immigration and transnational studies generally.--Latino Studies

An intelligent theoretical comprehension.--IBEROAMERICANA

Duany enriches the field [of diaspora studies] considerably with this highly textured examination of Puerto Rican identity and culture in the U.S. orbit.--American Historical Review

Jorge Duany's wonderful book. . . . will become essential reading for scholars interested in Puerto Rican (and Caribbean) identity, nationalism and transnationalism, colonial and postcolonial representation, and race in Puerto Rico and Latin America.--Caribbean Studies

About the Author

Jorge Duany is professor of anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras and coauthor of Cubans in Puerto Rico: Ethnic Economy and Cultural Identity. He has held teaching and research appointments in the United States, most recently as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan.