Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook

New
Paperback
2010
$28.31

Over the past few decades, a wave of immigration has turned New York into a microcosm of the Americas and enhanced its role as the crossroads of the English- and Spanish-speaking worlds. Yet far from being an alien group within a mainstream and supposedly pure Anglo America, people referred to as Hispanics or Latinos have been part and parcel of New York since the beginning of the city's history. They represent what Walt Whitman once celebrated as the Spanish element of our nationality. Hispanic New York is the first anthology to offer a comprehensive view of this multifaceted heritage. Combining familiar materials with other selections that are either out of print or not easily accessible, Claudio Ivan Remeseira makes a compelling case for New York as a paradigm of the country's Latinoization. His anthology mixes primary sources with scholarly and journalistic essays on history, demography, racial and ethnic studies, music, art history, literature, linguistics, and religion, and the authors range from historical figures, such as Jose Marti, Bernardo Vega, or Whitman himself, to contemporary writers, such as Paul Berman, Ed Morales, Virginia Sanchez Korrol, Roberto Suro, and Ana Celia Zentella. This unique volume treats the reader to both the New York and the American experience, as reflected and transformed by its Hispanic and Latino components.

Synopsis

Over the past few decades, a wave of immigration has turned New York into a microcosm of the Americas and enhanced its role as the crossroads of the English- and Spanish-speaking worlds. Yet far from being an alien group within a mainstream and supposedly pure Anglo America, people referred to as Hispanics or Latinos have been part and parcel of New York since the beginning of the city's history. They represent what Walt Whitman once celebrated as the Spanish element of our nationality. Hispanic New York is the first anthology to offer a comprehensive view of this multifaceted heritage. Combining familiar materials with other selections that are either out of print or not easily accessible, Claudio Ivan Remeseira makes a compelling case for New York as a paradigm of the country's Latinoization. His anthology mixes primary sources with scholarly and journalistic essays on history, demography, racial and ethnic studies, music, art history, literature, linguistics, and religion, and the authors range from historical figures, such as Jose Marti, Bernardo Vega, or Whitman himself, to contemporary writers, such as Paul Berman, Ed Morales, Virginia Sanchez Korrol, Roberto Suro, and Ana Celia Zentella. This unique volume treats the reader to both the New York and the American experience, as reflected and transformed by its Hispanic and Latino components.

$28.31

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 736
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 06 Jul 2010
ISBN 10: 0231148194
ISBN 13: 9780231148191
Book Overview: This fine sourcebook takes us on a lively, thoughtful tour of a city that many writers, artists, and cultural historians have long known but have found hard to define. With a breadth of vision that reminds us America is two continents, Remeseira has gathered a prime selection of writers and thinkers to present a kaleidoscopic, complex whole. Hispanic New York emerges as a hybrid space, a juncture where Hispanics, Latinos, Latin Americans, or any other nation-specific name they choose to call themselves may understand their past and transform it into new cultural forms. -- Susana Torruella Leval, Director Emerita, El Museo del Barrio With a keen journalistic eye, a historian's curiosity, and a passion for New York, Remeseira expertly portrays the nuanced stories of Hispanics in this very Latin city. Selections provide new insights and perspectives on how this metropolis of the North has been pivotal in much of the history of Latin America and the Caribbean. Remeseira's sourcebook reveals and explains this history and firmly situates New York City as an important focal point in the arts and culture of all Hispanics and Latinos. -- Tony Bechara, artist and chairman of the board, El Museo del Barrio

Media Reviews

A rich anthology of the history, ethnicity, language and culture of a city with the largest and most diverse Hispanic population in the country. -- Sam Roberts New York Times A significant milestone in Nueva York studies as an interdisciplinary, multinational field with hemispheric and transatlantic scope. -- Catharine E. Wall World Literature Today ...should be required reading for anyone interested in the study of people of Latin American descent in New York. -- Ramona Hernandez Latino Studies

Author Bio

Claudio Ivan Remeseira is an award-winning journalist, writer, and cultural critic. He is founder and director of the Hispanic New York Project, hosted by Columbia University's American Studies Program, where he teaches a seminar on New York's Latino, Latin American, and Iberian cultural heritage. Andrew Delbanco is professor and director of American studies at Columbia University.