Macho Ethics

Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative

Jason Cortés

Masculinity is not a monolithic phenomenon, but a historically discontinuous one—a fabrication as it were, of given cultural circumstances. Because of its opacity and instability, masculinity, like more recognizable systems of oppression, resists discernibility. In Macho Ethics: Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative, Jason Cortés seeks to reveal the inner workings of masculinity in the narrative prose of four major Caribbean authors: the Cuban Severo Sarduy; the Dominican American Junot Díaz; and the Puerto Ricans Luis Rafael Sánchez and Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá. By exploring the relationship between ethics and authority, the legacies of colonial violence, the figure of the dictator, the macho, and the dandy, the logic of the Archive, the presence of Oscar Wilde, and notions of trauma and mourning, Macho Ethics fills a gap surrounding issues of power and masculinity within the Caribbean context, and draws attention to what frequently remains invisible and unspoken.

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 160 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-61148-637-7 • Hardback • December 2014 • $92.00 • (£71.00)

978-1-61148-639-1 • Paperback • August 2016 • $41.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-61148-638-4 • eBook • December 2014 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Series: Bucknell Studies in Latin American Literature and Theory

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Caribbean & Latin American, Social Science / Men's Studies, Social Science / Regional Studies

Macho Ethics

Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Masculinity is not a monolithic phenomenon, but a historically discontinuous one—a fabrication as it were, of given cultural circumstances. Because of its opacity and instability, masculinity, like more recognizable systems of oppression, resists discernibility. In Macho Ethics: Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative, Jason Cortés seeks to reveal the inner workings of masculinity in the narrative prose of four major Caribbean authors: the Cuban Severo Sarduy; the Dominican American Junot Díaz; and the Puerto Ricans Luis Rafael Sánchez and Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá. By exploring the relationship between ethics and authority, the legacies of colonial violence, the figure of the dictator, the macho, and the dandy, the logic of the Archive, the presence of Oscar Wilde, and notions of trauma and mourning, Macho Ethics fills a gap surrounding issues of power and masculinity within the Caribbean context, and draws attention to what frequently remains invisible and unspoken.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 160 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-61148-637-7 • Hardback • December 2014 • $92.00 • (£71.00)

978-1-61148-639-1 • Paperback • August 2016 • $41.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-61148-638-4 • eBook • December 2014 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Series: Bucknell Studies in Latin American Literature and Theory

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Caribbean & Latin American, Social Science / Men's Studies, Social Science / Regional Studies

Author

Jason Cortés is assistant professor of Spanish and American studies at Rutgers University-Newark.

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Macho Ethics: Authority Matters
Chapter 1: Eerie Feelings: Spectral Authority
Chapter 2: The Sarduyan Paradox
Chapter 3: The Sentimental Education
Chapter 4: No Home-Run Hitter or Fly Bachatero
Conclusion
Bibliography

Macho Ethics

Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative

Jason Cortés

Macho Ethics

Masculinity and Self-Representation in Latino-Caribbean Narrative

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