Storytelling from the Borderlands of La Romana and New York: A Journey through Josefina Báez’s Dominicanish

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Notes

1 Notable examples include the works of Rhina Espaillat, Josefina Báez, Julia Álvarez, Annecy Báez, Angie Cruz, Nelly Rosario, Loida Maritza Pérez, Ana Lara, Miriam Ventura, Dinorah Coronado, Raquel Cepeda, Elizabeth Acevedo, Naima Coster, Amanda Alcántara, Lorraine Avila, Melania Luisa Marte, and Cleyvis Natera.

2 All translations are mine throughout the text.

3 Throughout the manuscript I use the terms Dominican-American and Dominicanyork. Although the latter has been used in a wider sense to designate Dominicans living in the United States and they are often used interchangeably, I turn to the demonym, Dominicanyork, to account for the social and culturally specific conditions and realities of Dominican immigration to New York City post-1961. Further, Josefina Báez is a self-proclaimed Dominicanyork to whom affirming this identity is central to reflect upon the social, cultural, economic, and political impact of New York City in the fluid construction of dominicanidad. Thus, when referring to her and her oeuvre, I use Dominicanyork.

4 This has been extensively discussed in García-Peña, Lorgia. 2008. “Performing Identity, Language, and Resistance: A Study of Josefina Báez’s Dominicanish.” Wadabagei: A Journal of the Caribbean and Its Diaspora 11(3): 28–45; Maríñez, Sophie. 2005. “Poética de la relación en Dominicanish de Josefina Báez,” La Torre 10:35 (2005): 149–160; Rodríguez, Néstor. 2011. “De La Romana a Washington Heights: el azar trashumante de Josefina Báez.” Revista Surco Sur 2(4): 71–74; and Victoriano, Arturo. 2014. Rayanos y Dominicanyorks: La Dominicanidad del Siglo XXI. Pittsburgh: Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana.

5 See La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. 2014. “Speaking Black Latino/a/ness: Race, Performance, and Poetry in Tato Laviera, Willie Perdomo and Josefina Báez.” In Essays on Tato Laviera: The AmeRícan Poet, edited by Stephanie Álvarez and William Luis, 240–57. New York: Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, CUNY; and García-Peña, Lorgia. 2016. Borders of Dominicanidad: Race, Nation, and Archives of Contradiction. Durham: Duke University Press.

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Notes on contributors

Sharina Maillo-Pozo

Sharina Maillo-Pozo is assistant professor of Latinx studies in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Georgia. Her research papers and reviews have appeared in various edited volumes, and in Ciberletras, The Black Scholar, Chasqui, Small Axe, Cuadernos de Literatura, and Estudios Sociales.