essay

'Que assimilated, brother, yo soy asimilao': the structuring of Puerto Rican identity

Divided borders : essays on Puerto Rican identityHoustonPublished In 1993 • Pages: 182-195, 245

By: Flores, Juan.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a comparative look at two Hispanic populations, the Chicanos of Los Angeles and Puerto Ricans of New York. Chicanos and Puerto Ricans share a common Latin American culture and immigrant experience of discrimination and exploitation. However they are notably different in their relationships with African-Americans. Puerto Ricans are close to Blacks, which is not the case for Chicanos, who instead have a closer relationship with American Indians. Alarcón attributes this to the different ethnic mix between the Caribbean and Mesoamerica. Alarcón identifies four definitive moments in the awakening of mainland Puerto Rican cultural consciousness. First is the state of abandonment: The immigrant's realization of the awful conditions of life of poverty and discrimination in an urban ghetto. In the second state of enchantment, immigrants rediscover and appreciate the idyllic nature of their homeland. The third state is a renewed encounter with New York in which the indigenous culture is proudly asserted. The fourth state is the selective interaction with other minority and migrant peoples, jointly celebrating a Caribbean New York
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Music
Verbal arts
Ethnic stratification
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Puerto Ricans (Mainland)
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2002
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Unknown
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2000
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
Not Specified
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1965-1985
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
New York, N.Y., United States
NotesAdditional notes
Juan Flores
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
91037313
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Puerto Ricans--United States