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4. Dream History, Dream Nation
- Rutgers University Press
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4 / Dream History, Dream Nation A satisfying and long-standing cultural mechanism for those who regret that independence never came to pass is to rewrite/reinvent Puerto Rican history in order to recycle, reimagine, and reconstitute the bits of the past that relate to (dashed) hopes for an independent nation. From these arise interesting stories, fascinating heroes and heroines, and allegories full of significance. And even if you have doubts about the political viability of independence, its use as historical background can spice up stories. The critic Silvio Torres-Saillant notes how Caribbean cultures have “inventive ways of looking at the past, including what Édouard Glissant has called a ‘prophetic vision of the past’” (137). Glissant indeed spoke of how Caribbean cultures are obsessed with re-creating the past in order to correct, or at least forget, historical wrongs: “The past, to which we were subjected, which has not yet emerged as history for us, is, however, obsessively present. The only duty of the writer is to explore this obsession ” (63–64). Many Puerto Rican writers have taken that duty to heart. One of the most visible consequences of the nationalist context to Puerto Rican culture is, quite simply, mythmaking. José Rodríguez Vázquez says in very plain terms that “Albizuist national history was a mythologizing narrative” (236). In traditional nationalist thinking, the dream nation existed even before modern times, especially during the times of Borikén (before any invaders). A parallel belief is in the authenticity of Puerto Rican national identity under Spain’s rule despite the fact that dream history, dream nation / 133 the island wasn’t free in any sense (except that the United States had not set foot on it). The island’s history (real or made up) becomes fertile ground for stories and iconography that tie into the enduring popularity of struggles for liberty as well as to heroic figures. As we have seen before, the need for Puerto Rican heroes is long-standing; nineteenth-century Puerto Rican literature, for instance, is brimming with heroes, particularly those taken from Taíno mythology. The idealization of the Taíno, indeed, is commonplace in Puerto Rican culture, particularly graphic arts. (Indeed, the subject is too large for the scope of this chapter.) Suffice it to say that works from every era—starting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—unabashedly worship the irreproachable and brave Taíno and paradoxically also his foe, the noble Spaniard. Forgotten in many of these tales is of course a third national component: the African slave. Most notably there is the eye-catching persistence of Agüeybaná (or Agüeibana), the most famous Taíno cacique. His centrality as a “Puerto Rican”—he was no such thing since he lived in prenational times—hero begins at least with such sixteenth-century works of Juan de Castellano as “Arenga de Agüeibana” (Agüeibana’s harangue) and “Muerte de Agüeibana” (Death of Agüeibana). The latter has the native chieftain full of “evil intent” to take arms against the Spaniards in revenge for the suffering they have caused his people. Castellano’s “Elegía VI” (Elegy VI), which celebrates Juan Ponce de León, presents a more pathetic, peaceful Agüeybaná with an aging mother by his side. Castellanos, writing in 1589, portrays Ponce de León as a builder of a tranquil Puerto Rico and Agüeybaná as a noble, peaceful chieftain, a “varón prudente” (18; prudent man) whose son and heir will take up the fight against enslavement . Both Ponce de León and the Taíno leader became recurring characters in Puerto Rican literature—Ponce de León is, for instance, a dreamy administrator in Manuel Méndez Ballester’s Isla cerrera (1937). The conquistador is also a source of inspiration for the lead character in Esmeralda Santiago’s Conquistadora (2012). Reading the journals of her ancestor (who had come to the island with Ponce de León in 1508), Ana, the spunky heroine, “despaired that she was born female and centuries too late to be an explorer and adventurer” (16). She decides to leave her home in Spain and emulate her ancestor. Later, the novel features detailed planning for a celebration of the 355th anniversary of Ponce de León’s first settlement in Puerto Rico, including the exhumation of his remains and his reinterment in the island’s cathedral (330). [3.238.57.9] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 11:42 GMT) 134 / dream history, dream...