Nation, culture, and identity: The colonial subject's search for identity in the works of Julia Alvarez, Rosario Ferre, and Ana Lydia Vega

This thesis examines selected narratives of Julia Alvarez, Rosario Ferre, and Ana Lydia Vega in relation to the colonial subject's search for identity---be it as an individual or as part of a national entity. It looks into the connection that some of the characters make between women's identity and that of the nation. The work explores in particular the identity/identities of female characters in the fiction of these three contemporary Caribbean writers. It problematizes issues of presentation and representation and the tendency often found in the agendas of feminism, nationalism, and the new historiography to homogenize culture, ethnicity, and national identity. The thesis investigates as well some of the means colonial subjects utilize in order to gain agency, and thus subvert, reject, and resist oppressive and colonialist practices.