''Empire of Dreams'' (, 1988) is a

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

poetry epic by Puerto Rican author

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include '' Empire of Dreams'' (1988), '' Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998), '' United States of Banana'' (2011), and '' Putinoika'' (2024). ...

, who is considered "one of the most

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

voices in

Latin American literature Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of Latin America. Latin American literature rose to particular pro ...

today". Love, liberty,

inspiration Inspiration, inspire, INSPIRE, or inspired commonly refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, a Christian doctrine on the origin of the Bible * Inhalation, breathing in Inspiration and rel ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, gender fluidity, and creativity are the main themes of ''Empire of Dreams'', an ode to New York City.

Subject, structure, themes

The narrator journeys through a "phantasmagoria of internal and external trials in order to experience the center—of political power, of meaning, of feeling, and of personal identity". The central axis is the

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

's new life in the "

Big Apple "The Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sportswriter for the '' New York Morning Telegraph''. Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by t ...

", which is dramatized by Braschi as the epicenter of the

American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...

. Social and linguistic references to Latin American cities also abound, such as "the Latin American Quarter in Paris, the ''barrio chino barcelonés'', the ''zaguanes'' of Borges's Buenos Aires, and the colonial houses in Old San Juan". There are three parts and a total of six books of poetry within ''Empire of Dreams''. This structure, which nestles books within books, has been compared to the concept of a

Chinese box ''Chinese Box'' is a 1997 romantic drama film directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, and Michael Hui. It is set and was made at the time of Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 19 ...

and the

Matryoshka doll Matryoshka dolls (), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name ''Matryoshka'' is a diminutive form of ''Matryosha'' (), i ...

. The work is a hybrid of genres:

prose poetry Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Etymology The word is from Old English ''godsibb'', from ''god (word), god'' and ''sibb'', the term for the ...

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, m ...

, and

antinovel An antinovel is any experimental work of fiction that avoids the familiar conventions of the novel, and instead establishes its own conventions. Origin of the term The term ("anti-roman" in French) was brought into modern literary discourse by t ...

Part One: "Assault on Time"

"Assault on Time" muses on love lost and the ineptitude of language and grammar to communicate emotions. The work debuted in 1980 as Braschi's first book of poetry in Spanish (Asalto al tiempo, Barcelona). The book begins with the breaking of silence: "Behind the word is silence./Behind what sounds is the door". Letters take on a life of their own, roaming the streets of New York, and punctuation marks, such as colons and

semicolon The semicolon (or semi-colon) is a symbol commonly used as orthographic punctuation. In the English language, a semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought, such as ...

s, denote pivotal points in a relationship.

Part Two: "Profane Comedy"

''La Comedia profana'' debuted in Spanish as Braschi's second poetry collection in 1985. The works pays homage to the evolution of poetry and performance, especially comedia dell'arte. "Profane Comedy" is composed of four books of poetry, each with humor and a touch of the grotesque: 1. "Book of Clowns and Buffoons", 2. "Poems of the World; or The Book of Wisdom", 3. "

Pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

; or, The Inquisition of Memories", and 4. "Song of Nothingness". Braschi mixes television

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

and pop songs by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

with poems of the English and

Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century"; 1492 – 1681) was a period of literature and the The arts, arts in Spain that coincided with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic M ...

. References include

Luis de León Luis de León ( Belmonte, Cuenca, 1527 – Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile, Spain, 23 August 1591), was a Spanish lyric poet, Augustinian friar, theologian and academic. While serving as professor of Biblical scholarship at th ...

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

Luis de Góngora Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic prebendary for the Church of Córdoba. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widel ...

, Garcilaso de la Vega, and Francisco Quevedo, while cameo appearances are made by poets, painters, philosophers, and composers, such as:

César Vallejo César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza (March 16, 1892 – April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators ...

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, Breughal,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

, and

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. She liberally quotes from classical poets, transformed by her use of the "sampling technique of rap music" and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

. Braschi writes from a literary tradition and an erudite standpoint, but "she imbues her text with jollity and a brilliant energy". The text unfolds through a series of violent and surreal theatrical scenes performed by clowns, buffoons, shepherds, lead soldiers, magicians, madmen, witches, and fortune tellers. These gender-bending immigrant characters attack and occupy the American mainstream, including business centers and tourist attractions. In a climactic episode of "

; or, the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

of Memories", shepherds cause traffic jams on

5th Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

during the

Puerto Rican Day Parade The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place annually in the United States along Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the second Sunday in June, in honor o ...

, ring the bells of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and take over the observation deck of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

. There they dance and sing: "Now we do whatever we please, whatever we please, whatever we damn well please".

Part Three: "Intimate Diary of Solitude"

''The Intimate Diary of Solitude'' is a lighthearted

about a poet's search for love and fame during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

of the Reagan Era. The work is a mash-up of

flash fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ...

, pop songs, tabloid,

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

, diary, and

, closing with a philosophical treatise on the writer's role in the modern age. The heroine Mariquita Samper, a

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

make-up artist who dreams of being a star, calls for a revolution of "poetic eggs" and shoots the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, who keeps rewriting her own diary in order to turn it into a bestseller. The work pokes fun at the narrative techniques and somber tones of

Latin American Boom The Latin American Boom () was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. The Boom is most closely associated with ...

and

dictator novel The dictator novel () is a genre of Latin American literature that challenges the role of the dictator in Latin American society. The theme of '' caudillismo''—the régime of a charismatic ''caudillo'', a political strongman—is addressed by ...

s. The debate between quality and originality versus fame and fortune is a comic refrain in ''Empire of Dreams''. Braschi writes, in the chapter entitled "Mariquita Samper's Childhood": ''"The Narrator suggested I write a book entitled Mariquita Samper’s Childhood. He’d pay me a million dollars for the rights. I’d have to say that I had a miserable childhood. In short, I portrayed myself as an orphan. My parents are thugs—I said in Mariquita Samper’s Childhood. Of course, I became a heroine to the American public. Little Orphan Mariquita. Daughter of those filthy thugs who stripped her of her American citizenship. And yet, in spite of all its lies, the book was a best-seller in the U.S. and Russia. Remember—said the Narrator—that Mariquita had asked for asylum at the Russian embassy. She wrote a letter to the Russians stating that she wanted to be a communist. She had been mistaken. She had realized the value of Russian citizenship, especially as a Puerto Rican. My confusion lies in the fact that I’m a sad colony."'' The work closes with a quotation from an anonymous poem of Medieval Spanish literature, a line from "El Conde Arnaldos": "I only sing my song/to whomever follows me".

Influences

Braschi credits T.S. Eliot's "

The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important English-language poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United ...

" as the single most influential English-language poem to inform the rhythmic shifts and the inspiration from which she creates a chorus of anonymous voices to capture the collective conscience of the masses.

Alicia Ostriker Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.Powell C.S. (1994) ''Profile: Jeremiah and Alicia Ostriker – A Marriage of Science and Art'', Scientific American 271(3), 28- ...

notes in the introduction to ''Empire of Dreams'' that the poet's voice sounds decidedly "

macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

" and yet it can be theoretically "paired with Luisa Valenzuela,

Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (, born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector (; ) December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her distinctive and innovative works delve into diverse narrative forms, weaving them ...

Luce Irigaray Luce Irigaray (; born 3 May 1930) is a Belgian-born French feminist, philosopher, linguist, psycholinguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist who examines the uses and misuses of language in relation to women. Irigaray's first and most ...

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and Literary criticism, literary critic. During her academic career, she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes (today's University of Paris VIII) ...

, and

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

, and obviously she owes a great deal to

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...

". Braschi has published scholarly articles on Spanish-language poetry by

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

, Garcilaso,

Antonio Machado Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, and

; and a book on

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Spanish Romance literature, Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, columni ...

. In an interview with NBC Latino, Braschi identified her favorite poet as César Vallejo: "Vallejo is a jack-in-the-box who performs the movement of my spirit. No matter how much you push him down into the box, the poet always bounces back to affirm his love for life".

Giannina Braschi

Giannina Braschi, a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellow, is considered a revolutionary voice in contemporary

. She is the subject of ''Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi'', a scholarly anthology edited by

Frederick Luis Aldama Frederick Luis Aldama is an American author, editor, and academic. He is the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and founder and director of the Latinx Pop Lab at the University of Texas, Austin. At UT Austin is also affiliate ...

, Tess O'Dwyer, and

Ilan Stavans Ilan Stavans (born Ilán Stavchansky, 1961) is a Mexican-born Jewish-American writer and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of ''Quixote'' (2015) and a contributor to the ''Norton Antholog ...

. Braschi is the author of the

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

novel ''

Yo-Yo Boing! ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) is a postmodern novel in English, Spanish, and Spanglish by Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. The cross-genre work is a structural hybrid of poetry, political philosophy, musical, manifesto, treatise, memoir, and dr ...

'', and the

postcolonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...

tragicomedy ''

United States of Banana ''United States of Banana'' (2011) is a postmodern allegorical novel by the Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. It is a cross-genre work that blends experimental theatre, prose poetry, short story, and political philosophy with a manifesto on ...

'' (2011). Her work explores the politics of empire and independence, while capturing the trials and tribulations of the American immigrants. She has won awards and grants from the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide thr ...

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

, InterAmericas, Danforth Scholarship, Reed Foundation, El Diario, Rutgers University, and Puerto Rican Institute for Culture. ''Empire of Dreams'' was translated by Tess O'Dwyer as the first volume of the

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Library of World Literature in Translation in 1994. With the publication of ''United States of Banana'', ''CARAS'' Magazine named Braschi one of the most influential Puerto Ricans in 2012.

References

, eds. ''Poets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi''. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020. * Augenbraum, Harold and Stavans, Ilan (eds.). ''Lengua Fresca: Latinos Writing on the Edge'', Mariner Press, 2006. * Barnstone, Willis and Barnstone Tony (eds.). ''Literature of Asia, Africa, and Latin America: From Antiquity to the Present'', Prentice Hall, 1999. * Barnstone, Willis, ''Literatures of Latin America'', Prentice Hall, p. 460, 1991. * Bidaseca, Karina. "Written in racialized bodies. Language, memory and (Post)colonial genealogies of femicide in Latin America." ''Journal of Latin American Communication Research'' 3.2 (2014): 135–161. * Castillo, Debra A. ''ReDreaming America: Toward a Bilingual Culture ( Hinojosa-Smith, Prida, Braschi)'', State University of New York, 2005. * Carrion, Maria Mercedes. "Geography, (M)Other Tongues and the Role of Translation in Giannina Braschi's El imperio de los sueños", ''Studies in 20th Century Literature'', 20:1 (1996), 167–192 * Cruz-Malavé, Arnaldo. "Colonial figures in motion: globalization and translocality in contemporary Puerto Rican Literature in the United States." ''Centro 14'' (2002): 4-25. * Cruz-Malavé, Arnaldo Manuel. "Under the Skirt of Liberty: Giannina Braschi Rewrites Empire." ''American Quarterly'' 66.3 (2014): 801–818. * Daniele, Daniela. Review of ''

'', ''

Evergreen Review ''The Evergreen Review'' is a U.S.-based literary magazine. Its publisher is John Oakes and its editor-in-chief is Dale Peck. The ''Evergreen Review'' was founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 until ...

'', Issue #128, New York, November 2011. * Echeverría, Miriam Balboa. "Mirada y marejada en" El imperio de los sueños" de Giannina Braschi." ''Confluencia'' (2002): 98-103. * Garrigos, Cristina. Review of ''

'', ''

'', Issue #128, New York, November 2011. * Gonzalez, Christopher Thomas. "Hospitable Imaginations: Contemporary Latino/a Literature and the Pursuit of a Readership", doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2012. * Gray Díaz, N., "Performing Soledad: the Demythification of Identity in Giannina Braschi's ''El imperio de los sueños'', ''Romance Notes'', 37:3 (1997), 331-338. * Goldstein, David and Thacker, Audrey (eds.), ''Complicating Constructions'', University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2007. * Gonzalez, Madelena. "''United States of Banana'' (2011), ''

Elizabeth Costello '' Elizabeth Costello'' is a 2003 novel by South African-born Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee. In this novel, Elizabeth Costello, a celebrated aging Australian writer, travels around the world and gives lectures on topics including the lives of ...

'' (2003) and '' Fury'' (2001): Portrait of the Writer as the 'Bad Subject' of

Globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

", ''Études britanniques contemporaines'', Volume 46, July 2014. * Gonzalez, Madelena and Laplace-Claverie, Helene. ''Minority Theater on the Global Stage: Challenging Paradigms From the Margins'', Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012. "Puerto Rico's premier poet and novelist." * Horno-Delgado, Asunción. "Imperiosa y Anti-imperial: Giannina Braschi," ''Hispanic Poetry Review: HPR'' 4.7-10 (2002): 37. * Gonzalez, Christopher. "Permissible Narratives: The Promise of Latino/o Literature (

Piri Thomas Piri Thomas (born Juan Pedro Tomas; September 30, 1928 – October 17, 2011) was an American writer and poet of Puerto Rican- Cuban descent, whose memoir '' Down These Mean Streets'' became a best-seller. Early years Thomas was born to a Puerto ...

's Down These Mean Streets and Giannina Braschi'

)," The Ohio State University Press, 2017. * Kuebler, Carolyn, "Empire of Dreams Review," ''Review of Contemporary Fiction'', vol 15, no. 1, Spring 1995. * Loustau, Laura. "Nomadismos lingüísticos y culturales en Yo-Yo Boing! de Giannina Braschi", ''Revista Iberoamericana'', volume 71:211, 437–448, 2005 * Loustau, Laura. ''Cuerpos errantes: literatura Latina y latinoamericana en Estados Unidos'' ( Luisa Valenzuela, Giannina Braschi, and Cristina Garcia). Viterbo Editora, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002. * Loustau, Laura Rosa. ''Cuerpos y textos en tránsito: un acercamiento a la literatura Latina y latinoamericana en Estados Unidos''. University of California, Berkeley, 2000. * Marting, Diane E. "New/Nueva York in Giannina Braschi's 'Poetic Egg': Fragile Identity,

Postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

, and Globalization", ''The Global South'', volume 4:1., 2010. * Morris, Barbara. "Paradoxes of Postmodernism in Giannina Braschi's ''El imperio de los sueños''." Conflictos Culturales en la Literatura Contemporánea. 17 ensayos y una discusión: 44–53. *Alicia Ostriker, Ostriker, Alicia. "Introduction to ''Empire of Dreams''," Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994. * Perisic, Alexandra. "Precarious Crossings: Immigration, Neoliberalism, and the Atlantic, The Ohio State University Press, 2019. * Popovich Ljudmila, Mila. "Metafictions, Migrations, Metalives: Narrative Innovations and Migrant Women's Aesthetics in Giannina Braschi and Etel Adnan," ''International Journal of the Humanities'', 117–128, 2010. *Doris Sommer, Sommer, Doris, Introduction to ''Yo-Yo Boing!'', Latin American Review Press, Pittsburgh, 1998. * Ramos, Francisco José. ''Postfacio. El imperio de los sueños'', Anthropos Editorial del Hombre, (1988): 233-253. * Remeseria, Claudio.
Summer reads: brilliant takes on Nuyoricans, random murder and narco-literatura
," NBC Latino, August 2013. * Riofrio, John. "Falling for debt: Giannina Braschi, the Latinx avant-garde, and financial terrorism in the

," Latino Studies, January 2020. * Rivera, Carmen Haydée. "El poder de la palabra y la experiencia transnacional: una entrevista con Giannina Braschi," ''Op-Cit: Revista del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas'', Puerto Rico, 2013. * Rivera, Carmen Haydée. "Embracing alternate discourses on migration: Giannina Braschi's and Luisita López Torregrosa's multi-dimensional literary schemes," ''Umbral'', University of Puerto Rico, April 2014. * Rivera Monclova, Marta S. "Discrimination, evasion, and livability in four New York Puerto Rican narratives". Doctoral dissertation, Tufts University, 2010. * Rodriguez Matos, Jaime, "Unmothered Americas: Poetry and Universality (on Alejandra Pizarnik, Charles Simmons (author), Charles Simons, Giannina Braschi)". Commons Digitalis at Columbia University Dissertation, 2005. * Waldron, John V. "Killing Colonialism's Ghosts in

: Mayra Santos-Febres, Mayra Santos Febres and Giannina Braschi,''Cuaderno Internacional de Estudios Humanísticos y Literatura'', 2011. * Zimmerman, Marc. ''Defending Their Own in the Cold: The Cultural Turns of U.S. Puerto Ricans'', University of Illinois, Chicago, 2011.

External links

* {{cite journal , last1=Cruz-Malavé , first1=Arnaldo Manuel , title='Under the Skirt of Liberty': Giannina Braschi Rewrites Empire , journal=American Quarterly , date=2014 , volume=66 , issue=3 , pages=801–818 , doi=10.1353/aq.2014.0042 , s2cid=144702640 , id={{Project MUSE, 553867
''Empire of Dreams Review''
''Publishers Weekly'', 1994. * ''The Evergreen Review'', featurin
reviews of "United States of Banana"
by Cristina Garrigos and Daniela Daniele and videos of Giannina Braschi, November 2011. * Library of Congress Archives, Washington DC, September 24, 2012. National Book Festival
Transcript and Webcast: Giannina Braschi
1988 books Empire State Building in fiction American poetry collections Postmodern literature Puerto Rican culture in the United States Puerto Rican plays New York City in fiction Multiculturalism in the United States Books about democracy Books about capitalism Postmodern theatre Puerto Rican literature Literature by Hispanic and Latino American women Epic poems in Spanish Epic poems in English Caribbean literature Postcolonial poetry Metafictional works

Subject, structure, themes

Part One: "Assault on Time"

Part Two: "Profane Comedy"

Part Three: "Intimate Diary of Solitude"

Influences

Giannina Braschi

See also

References

Further reading

External links