University of Tübingen
WS 2002/2003
HS: Latino/Latina Literature in the US

“AmeRícan” by Tato Laviera: A Puerto Rican in New York

by

Agnes Bösenberg

Introduction  1

1. “Nuyorican” poetry  2
1.1 Tato Laviera  3

2. Structure and Language  4
2.1 Structure of the poem  4
2.2 Structure of the stanzas  5
2.3 Language  5

3. Thematic development  7
3.1 introductory stanzas  7
3.2 “AmeRícan” stanzas  9

4. Conclusion  12

Bibliography  14

appendix:  15

Introduction

The poem “AmeRícan” by Tato Laviera is part of the poet’s latest collection published in 1985. This work is, like his previous publications “Enclave” (1981) and “La carreta made a U-turn” (1979) considered as an outstanding example of “Nuyorican” poetry, that is to say poetry written by Puerto Ricans living in New York.

When trying to understand the poem, it is necessary to understand the circumstances in which it was written. Therefore, a description of the artistic and personal environment of Tato Laviera will be given and the Nuyorican movement will be examined. On this basis, the language and structure of the poem will be studied in detail, concentrating on vocabulary, bilingualism, the title and rhythm. In the third part, the themes and topics of the poem will be analysed with the help of Juan Flores’ concept of the “four definitive moments in the awakening of Nuyourican consciousness”¹. Finally, all these aspects will be brought together in a conclusion in which the attempt of pinpointing Tato Laviera’s view on Puerto Rico, America and his own identity will be made.

1. “Nuyorican” poetry

During the 1960’s literature written by Puerto Rican immigrants in New York started to become more imaginative, it explored the immigrant experience in depth and the language included many bilinguisms.² This new movement had its roots in a strong political background and was influenced by the black and other civil rights movements. Early Nuyorican writers were often linked to a self-proclaimed revolutionary organization called the ‘Young Lords’ that promoted Puerto Rican rights in social, educational and political matters.³ The organization, although of rather militant nature, brought a sense of pride and identity to Puerto Rican immigrants and “channelled their dissatisfaction into a political movement” (Luis, 45).

The poetry that emerged in this time expressed very similar issues to those proclaimed by the political organizations. It came directly from the “barrios”, the ghettos where Puerto Ricans lived and it told of living conditions and experiences in New York. It was poetry written for the majority of the immigrants, it spoke for the whole community and every Puerto Rican immigrant could relate to the marginal and isolated conditions described in the works of Nuyorican poets. As it was poetry coming directly from the streets, the language of the streets – Spanish, English or a mixture of both- was used. The new kind of poetry did not have a certain model; it was quite independent and more influenced by African American poetry in the US than by Spanish American literary currents. The best way to really get to the heart of Nuyorican poetry is not to read it; it is to hear it recited or even sung by the poet in the Nuyorican Poets Café in the Puerto Rican neighbourhood of New York which was established by Tato Laviera and his fellow poets Algarin, and Pinero.⁴

Moving away from the strictly political beginnings of the literary movements, Nuyorican poetry became freer of these models. It still portrayed the “New York ghetto world against a mythified view of a inter-racial utopia identified with a liberated Puerto Rico” (Zimmermann, 34) but it became more complex and was finally seen as vanguards literature that “questions, while at the same time accepts, its North American environment” (Luis, 20). Despite accepting America as their new home, Nuyorican poets keep strong emotional ties to Puerto Rico. “En el fondo del nuyorican hay un puertorriqeño” (At the bottom of every Nuyorican there is a Puerto Rican), Laviera proclaims (Flores, 101). This discrepancy of accepting America on the one hand and emotionally sticking to Puerto Rico on the other hand can be understood when Laviera explains that he thinks the island is less Puerto Rican than the “barrio”. Many Puerto Ricans feel that their homeland has been overrun by continental values even more than the community on the island.

Nuyorican poetry is still an important cultural force today; poetry slams are still hold in Puerto Rican communities. The relation between writers on the island and Nuyorican writers proves to be difficult until today. While the immigrant writers in New York appreciate their colleagues back home, Puerto Ricans on the island do not seem to accept Nuyoricans as authentic Puerto Ricans. The writers in New York find themselves alienated both in America and their homeland, their works belong to a “literature operative between two national literatures and marginal in both” (Flores, 152). In the foreword to another collection of poems by Tato Laviera, “La carreta made a U-turn”, it says:

To be Nuyorican is to be universal, is to be existentially wired to men of different colors and tongues the world over: Spanish-speakers, English-Speakers, and peoples anywhere whose existence cannot be categorized or labeled by language, nationality or race […] More than that, to all Americans, that, whether they realize it or not, are living in a mestizo/mulatto civilization that enjoys the cultural heritage of Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. To the great salseros and jazz musicians, who, long before the poets, conjugated the sounds of three continents into the heartbeat of a people.5

1.1 Tato Laviera

In many ways, Tato Laviera is what could be considered as a prototypical Nuyorican poet. He spent his youth in the Lower East Side, called Loisaida by Puerto Rican immigrants, where he moved to in 1960. Like many other Nuyorican writers he had little

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1 Juan Flores, Divided borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity, Arte Publico Press, Houston, Texas, 1993, 186.

2 Mark Zimmermann, US Latino Literature: an essay and annotated bibliography, MARCH/Abrazo Press, Chicago, 1992, 33.

3 William Luis, Dance between two cultures: Latino Caribbean Literature written in the United States, Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville and London, 1997, 43.

4 http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/assets/pdf/aaw_poetry_essay.pdf