Publisher's Synopsis
The first sustained critical examination of the work of Dominican-American writer Junot Dìaz, this interdisciplinary collection considers how Dìaz's writing illuminates the world of Latino cultural expression and trans-American and diasporic literary history. Interested in conceptualizing Dìaz's decolonial imagination and his radically re-envisioned world, the contributors show how his aesthetic and activist practice reflect a significant shift in American letters toward a hemispheric and planetary culture. They examine the intersections of race, Afro-Latinidad, gender, sexuality, disability, poverty, and power in Dìaz's work. Essays in the volume explore issues of narration, language, and humor in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the racialized constructions of gender and sexuality in Drown and This Is How You Lose Her, and the role of the zombie in the short story "Monstro." Collectively, they situate Dìaz's writing in relation to American and Latin American literary practices and reveal the author's activist investments. The volume concludes with Paula Moya's interview with Dìaz.
Contributors: Glenda R. Carpio, Arlene Dávila, Lyn Di Iorio, Junot Dìaz, Monica Hanna, Jennifer Harford Vargas, Ylce Irizarry, Claudia Milian, Julie Avril Minich, Paula M. L. Moya, Sarah Quesada, José David Saldìvar, Ramón Saldìvar, Silvio Torres-Saillant, Deborah R. Vargas
