Border crossing(s) and personal sovereignty are intimately and complexly connected in novels by and about Dominican American women. Through readings of In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez, Dominicana by Angie Cruz, and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, I argue that patriarchal forms of authority remove female autonomy by trespassing on personal boundaries, and that the renegotiation of that power is achieved through formations of community, especially with other women, through nonheteronormative relationships that are present inside and extend outside the text. The interplay of patriarchal authority, violence, and alienation on the four protagonists is examined at length, and I end by exploring personal sovereignty through community building as a remediation to patriarchal structures of power.
","abstract_html":"<p>Border crossing(s) and personal sovereignty are intimately and complexly connected in novels by and about Dominican American women. Through readings of In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez, Dominicana by Angie Cruz, and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, I argue that patriarchal forms of authority remove female autonomy by trespassing on personal boundaries, and that the renegotiation of that power is achieved through formations of community, especially with other women, through nonheteronormative relationships that are present inside and extend outside the text. The interplay of patriarchal authority, violence, and alienation on the four protagonists is examined at length, and I end by exploring personal sovereignty through community building as a remediation to patriarchal structures of power.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lynn, Leia M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kristy Ulibarri","Lisa Martinez","Billy Stratton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:03:12Z","subjects":["Authority","Borders","Dominican American","Migrant literature","Transnational novels","Women writers","American Literature","American Studies","Arts and Humanities","International and Area Studies","Latin American Languages and Societies","Latin American Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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