Sobre la autora y la obra
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Álvarez
o
New
York / Dominican Republic, 1950-present
o
Regarded as one of the most significant Latina
writers of this time period
o
Seems kind of part of the “crack”-ish writing
time… maybe?
o
Mixed background – American vs.
Hispanic/Dominican = “Latina”
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This text is somewhat autobiographical
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Text is important in terms of representation of
the globalization of the novel of this type of theme/context… one of the first
books about Dominican themes to receive such wide attention in the United
States (Wikipedia)
Political/Social/Literary context
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Parte
de How the García Girls… tiene que
ver con la dictadura de Trujillo (que duró de 1930-1960) – el gran abuso de
derechos humanos
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Lots of immigration from Dominican Republic to
U.S. in this time period due to revolution and political turmoil
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Don’t know if this book would be part of the new
generation “crack” movement? – seems representative of burst of publication in
recent years by Hispanic/latino authors, especially women
Comps Example Questions
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Discuss the relationship between Latin American
and Latina/o literature by choosing three representative authors/works. For
example, similarities and differences between Paz’s Laberinto de la soledad and Anzaldúa’s Borderlands. (Works
to consider: Paz, C. Fuentes, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, Allende, Anzaldúa,
J. Álvarez.)
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The development of Spanish American identity and
issues of race, class, and gender in numerous authors, from modernismo to the present (although they
occur earlier as well). Authors: Agustini, Arguedas, Argueta, Storni, Burgos,
Castellanos, Cardenal, Ferré, Berman, Álvarez, Williams, Puig, Barba Jacob,
Sarduy, Menchú, Alzandúa, Paz, Fernández Retamar, Galeano, Rama, etc. Some
suggested readings: Foster and Altamiranda, Cornejo Polar, Meyer, Castillo,
Stabb, Martin, Kaminsky, Beverly and others under testimonio.
Main Characters (Sisters)
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Carla – the first oldest daughter, the mediator
between the sisters
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Sandra/Sandi – the second daughter, the pretty
one; is anorexic in later years
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Yolanda (Yo/Joe) – third daughter, most
imaginative; serves as Alvarez’s alter ego and is most prominent of the sisters
in terms of the story’s narration
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Sofía (Fifi) – “the maverick youngest,” the only
one without a degree
Temas/ideas importantes
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Estilo de escritura
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Told in reverse chronological order (story
begins with four sisters’ adult lives in the United States and ends with their
childhood in the Domincan republic)
o
Narrated from shifting perspectives
o
Fifteen interconnected short stories, each of
which focuses on one of the four daughters, and in a few instances, the García
family as a whole
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Bildunsroman / coming-of-age
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Acculturation
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Myriad hardships of immigration, painting a
vivid picture of the struggle to assimilate, the sense of displacement, and the
confusion of identity suffered by the García family, as they are uprooted from
familiarity and forced to begin a new life in New York City. (Wikipedia)
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Feminism/gender
o
New female perspective
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Focus on female characters: four sisters
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Idea of different roles of women according to country
– women have less rights/opportunities in Dominican Republic than in U.S.
§
One point: Mami vs. Mom
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Machismo – especially in Dominican Republic, men
feel their superiority over women
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Race and racism
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Hispanics vs. Americans
o
Also indigenous/other races as servants in
Dominican Republic
o
Racism based on pigment
§
Between servants
§
Between daughters (Sandi is seen as prettiest,
she’s whiter than the others)
§
Between whites and Hispanics
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Language
o
Spanish vs. English
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Border
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Separation between Dominican Republic and U.S.
o
Border between compound in Dominican Republic
and rest of the country/world
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Immigration, home
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No true home anymore – neither in Dominican
Republic nor in U.S.
o
Identity crisis/questioning/confusion
o
Idea of pros/cons of life in either place
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Hybridity / Fragmentation
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Transculturation (Bhabba) – “unhomeliness,” “estrangement,”
“displacement”
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Psychological aspects
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Carla becomes a psychologist and is always
analyzing everything
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Sandi’s breakdown and anorexia
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Yolanda’s breakdown after her divorce
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The association between the woman and craziness
Summary (Wikipedia)
The novel is written episodically and in
reverse-chronological order. It consists of fifteen chapters divided in three
parts: Part I (1989–1972), Part II (1970–1960), and Part III (1960–1956). Part
I is centered around the adult lives of the García sisters; Part II describes
their immigration to the United States and their adolescence, and Part III
recollects their early childhood on the island, in the Dominican Republic.
The Garcías are one of the Dominican Republic's prominent
and wealthy families, tracing their roots back to the Conquistadores. Carlos
García, a physician and the head of the family, is the youngest of 35 children
his father sired during his lifetime, both in and out of wedlock. Laura,
Carlos's wife, also comes from an important family: her father is a factory
owner and a diplomat with the United Nations. Many members of the extended
family live as neighbours in large houses on an expansive compound with
numerous servants. In the early 1950s the García girls are born. Carla, Sandra,
Yolanda and Sofía enjoy a happy, protected childhood and are brought up by
their parents, aunts and uncles to preserve the family traditions. Their
countless cousins serve them as playmates.
Part
I
The first part of the novel establishes Yolanda at the
centre of the story as she narrates the opening and closing chapter:
"Antojos" and "The Rudy Elmenhurst Story", respectively. In
third person, Yolanda's return to Dominican Republic as an adult is described
in the context of a family birthday party and a road trip. Their unity as
sisters as "The Four Girls" is introduced in the third chapter, which
is a communally narrated. They celebrate Carlos, the patriarch's, birthday, and
Sofía introduces her baby son to his grandfather, helping to repair the father
and daughter's relationship somewhat. During Sofía's chapter, "The Kiss",
it is revealed that Carlos discovered a packet of love letters addressed to his
daughter, enraging him and leading to a conflict which ends in Sofía running
away to her German lover. A major focus in this section is the romantic
relationships between the four sisters and their partners. Sofía is married to
a "world-class chemist"; Carla and Sandra are in long-term
relationships; and Yolanda is in love with her psychiatrist and has previously
broken up with a man named John. Part I closes with "The Rudy Elmenhurst
Story", narrated by Yolanda. This describes Yolanda's first real
relationship, and the tension between her upbringing and American relationships:
"I would never find someone who would understand my particular mix of
Catholicism and agnosticism, Hispanic and American styles.”
Part
II
Part II details the family's collective experience of living
in the United States as immigrants. The girls first attend a Catholic school in
New York and later boarding school, and assimilate fairly well to their new
environments, although meeting with a few set-backs along the way. Their time
in the US begins with the opening chapter, "A Regular Revolution",
and delivers the girls' (collective) opinion that "We didn't feel we had
the best the United States had to offer. We had only second-hand stuff, rental
houses in one redneck Catholic neighborhood after another". While
during their first few months in New York they regularly pray to God that they
will soon be able to return to their homeland, they quickly start appreciating
the advantages of living in a "free country" so that even being sent
back to the Dominican Republic for the summer becomes a form of punishment for
them.
A major turning point in the novel comes with Laura's
discovery of a bag of Sofía's marijuana, and her subsequent punishment of being
removed from her boarding school and forced to spend a year in the Dominican
Republic with family. This event is representative of the girls' transformation
into Americans and away from the Dominican culture and Laura and Carlos' conflicted
relationship with the assimilation. Laura "still did lip service to the
old ways", and Carlos makes a point of educating the accents out of the
girls, thus showing the tension between the cultures.
Carla becomes the victim of racism in the third chapter,
"Trespass", with school boys telling her to "Go back to where
you came from, you dirty spic!” Later she is subjected to a child molester who
masturbates in his car while pulling up at the curb and talking lecherously to
her through the open window. The second part of the novel finishes with the
chapter "Floor Show", in which the García family goes to a Spanish
restaurant and Sandra witnesses the host's wife amorously attempting to kiss
her father on the way to the bathroom. Overall, Part II presents the unexpected
aspects of living in the United States and becoming Americans, and explores the
tensions that develop with the immigrant experience.
Part
III
The five chapters in Part III, the concluding section, focus
on the García family's early years in the Dominican Republic, and are the most
political of the novel. The first chapter, "The Blood of the Conquistadores",
opens with an account of two of Trujillo's agents coming to the family home
looking for Carlos. His revolutionary politics and work against the Chapitas
made the family a target, and this chapter explicitly details the danger of
their situation. The issues in past chapters appear superficial in comparison
to the life-or-death nature of the conflicts that the Garcías face earlier in
their lives. The family escapes persecution, but is forced to emigrate
immediately, establishing their motive for relocating to New York.
As Part III progresses, the narrative switches to describing
their upper-class life on the island, and filling details of the lifestyle the
family was born into. The story of the voodoo practicing Haitian family maid is
elucidated: she escaped Trujillo's massacre of Haitians and came to work for
Laura, although much of her family was not so lucky.
In the last three chapters Carla, Yolanda and Sandra narrate
stories from their childhood surrounded by the extended family, and the girls'
relationship with the United States begins. "An American Surprise"
tells of their early ideas of New York City, "where it was winter and the
snow fell from heaven to earth like the Bible's little pieces of manna bread.”
The reader realizes that the innocence of childhood and idealized vision of
their soon-to-be adopted country, given the reverse-chronological narration of How
the García Girls Lost Their Accents, are left behind with the García's home
in the Dominican Republic.
