Crossroads and Mirrors in New World Literature, 1814--1997: Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Charles Chesnutt, and Gish Jen (Cuba)

This dissertation is an effort to understand the development of themes of racial and ethnic self-definition as ideas within a New World context in the literature of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Charles Chesnutt, and Gish Jen. While the authors discussed span a chronological time period of over one hundred and fifty years, across national and ethnic boundaries, they are united by their efforts to challenge Old World concepts of racial inequality through a focus on the opening up of in-between spaces. These spaces are accessed through the crossroads and mirrors, African and European themes, which advance new ways of thinking and acting. It is striking that the utilization of the crossroads and mirrors has been consistent despite geographical and chronological differences and that they have been employed to advance a program of fluidity by authors who where not known to each other. These themes serve as strategic positions for characters and readers, creating sites for critiquing the logic and tools of racial difference, including the most obvious connection---the link between racial identity (indeed, any identity) and appearance.