{"product_id":"dream-nation-mara-acosta-cruz-9780813565460","title":"Dream Nation: Puerto Rican Culture and the Fictions of Independence","description":"Over the past fifty years, Puerto Rican voters have roundly rejected any calls for national independence. Yet the rhetoric and iconography of independence have been defining features of Puerto Rican literature and culture. In the provocative new book \u003ci\u003eDream Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, Mar僘 Acosta Cruz investigates the roots and effects of this profound disconnect between cultural fantasy and political reality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBringing together texts from Puerto Rican literature, history, and popular culture, \u003ci\u003eDream Nation\u003c\/i\u003e shows how imaginings of national independence have served many competing purposes. They have given authority to the island's literary and artistic establishment but have also been a badge of countercultural cool. These ideas have been fueled both by nostalgia for an imagined past and by yearning for a better future. They have fostered local communities on the island, and still helped define Puerto Rican identity within U.S. Latino culture. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn clear, accessible prose, Acosta Cruz takes us on a journey from the 1898 annexation of Puerto Rico to the elections of 2012, stopping at many cultural touchstones along the way, from the canonical literature of the \u003ci\u003eGeneraci del 30\u003c\/i\u003e to the rap music of Tego Calder. \u003ci\u003eDream Nation\u003c\/i\u003e thus serves both as a testament to how stories, symbols, and heroes of independence have inspired the Puerto Rican imagination and as an urgent warning about how this culture has become detached from the everyday concerns of the island's people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA volume in the American Literature Initiatives series\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mar僘 Acosta Cruz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813565464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813565460\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Rutgers University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/19\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 222\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.73lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.51d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2014 pg. 261","brand":"Mar僘 Acosta Cruz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44056910921983,"sku":"9780813565460","price":38.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_25193bea-c121-4a01-af91-df2fe0ccb601.jpg?v=1685043951","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/dream-nation-mara-acosta-cruz-9780813565460","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}