Dominican heroines of a new era.

• Author: Martinez, Elizabeth C.
• Position: American novels

Dominican-American writers have not been as prominent as many other U.S. Hispanic writers, but in recent years several have published novels representing both a New York urban existence and the multi-layered heritage of the Caribbean Hispanic. While Julia Alvarez was practically the only known Dominican-American writer who came to light as a poet in the 1980s and then burst on the literary scene with tantalizing novels in the early nineties, the generation following hers has now made its presence. Junot Diaz released Drown in 1996; Loida Maritza Perez published Geographies of Home three years later; and in the new millennium Angie Cruz and Nelly Rosario have provided additional perspectives on the transcultural experience of the Dominican-American.

In two of these novels female protagonists escape family circumstances by attending college. Perez's principal character is the next to youngest in a brood of fourteen; she returns home in order to understand herself, in the process examining the negative aspects of a patriarchal culture, exacerbated by inner-city living conditions. The existence of racism and rape is portrayed both within and outside the family unit, as well as diverging views on representation. "I'm Hispanic, not black," the main character's sister says, perpetuating the Dominican myth that their people are only "indios" if of darker...