Market Aesthetics: The Purchase of the Past in Caribbean Diasporic Fiction

265 Pages·2015·2.16 MB·English

by  Elena Machado Sáez

Market Aesthetics
New World Studies
J. Michael Dash, Editor
Frank Moya Pons and
Sandra Pouchet Paquet,
Associate Editors
Market Aesthetics
The Purchase of the Past in
Caribbean Diasporic Fiction
Elena Machado Sáez
University of Virginia Press
Charlottesville and London
this book is made possible by a collaborative grant
from the andrew w. mellon foundation.
University of Virginia Press
© 2015 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2015
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Machado Sáez, Elena.
Market aesthetics : the purchase of the past in Caribbean diasporic fiction /
Elena Machado Sáez.
pages cm. — (New World Studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8139-3704-5 (cloth : acid-free paper)
ISBN 978-0-8139-3705-2 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
ISBN 978-0-8139-3706-9 (e-book)
1. Caribbean literature (English)—History and criticism. 2. Historical fiction—
History and criticism. 3. Multiculturalism in literature. 4. Caribbean Area—
Influence. I. Title.
PR9205.4.M33 2015
813.009'9729—dc23
2014035706
To my models of hope and generosity:
my parents, Ricardo and Teresa,
and my padrinos, Manolo and Carmencita

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Marketing Multicultural Ethnics,
Promoting Postcolonial Ethics 1
1 Mixed Blessings: Readerships, Postcolonial Ethics,
and the Problem of Intimacy 19
2 Kinship Routes: Contextualizing Diaspora via
the Market in Andrea Levy and David Chariandy 46
3 Writing the Reader: Literacy and Contradictory
Pedagogies in Julia Alvarez, Michelle Cliff,
and Marlon James 82
4 Messy Intimacies: Postcolonial Romance in
Ana Menéndez, Dionne Brand, and Monique Roffey 120
5 Dictating Diaspora: Gendering Postcolonial Violence
in Junot Díaz and Edwidge Danticat 154
Conclusion: Electronic Archives and the Digital
Futures of Caribbean Diasporic Writing 197
Notes 213
Bibliography 229
Index 245

Acknowledgments
I am so fortunate to make a living reading, writing, and
teaching. Credit goes to Mary Erler, who put me on this path when she
told me to apply to PhD programs while I was an undergraduate at Ford-
ham. The W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship Program at SUNY Stony
Brook made this dream a reality, providing me with the financial and
social support necessary to complete my doctorate. Thanks to my thesis
committee for their feedback on the earliest version of the Andrea Levy
section: Helen Cooper, Román de la Campa, Gillian Johns, Kelly Oli-
ver, and David Sheehan. My gratitude goes to UVA Press staff for their
expertise and professionalism, especially to Cathie Brettschneider for
shepherding me through the manuscript process and to Elisabeth Mag-
nus and Tim Roberts for their expert copyediting. I want to recognize
the wonderful contribution of my anonymous readers, whose insightful
feedback made the manuscript into a much better book. Thank you to
the staffs of Anthurium and Contemporary Literature for the permis-
sion to include in the book the revised versions of my articles on Andrea
Levy and Junot Díaz: “Bittersweet (Be)Longing: Filling the Void of His-
tory in Andrea Levy’s Fruit of the Lemon,” in Arthurium: A Caribbean
Studies Journal 4.1 (2006), and “Dictating Desire, Dictating Diaspora:
Junot Díaz’s Oscar Wao as Foundational Romance,” in Contemporary
Literature 52.3 (2011): 522–55.
I also want to thank the conference attendees who commented on
drafts presented at the West Indian Literature, Caribbean Studies Asso-
ciation, Modern Language Association, National Association for Chi-
cana and Chicano Studies, Northeast Modern Language Association,
American Studies Association, American Comparative Literature Asso-
ciation, University of Miami Global Caribbean, Women’s Studies at
Southern Connecticut State, Caribbean Philosophical Association,