Diaspora, Memory and Identity: How Oscar Hijuelos’ The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Reflects upon the Cuban-American Experience
Authorship
B.I.D.S.C.
Master in Advanced English Studies and its Applications
B.I.D.S.C.
Master in Advanced English Studies and its Applications
Defense date
02.13.2025 12:00
02.13.2025 12:00
Summary
Long periods of warfare, political tensions, and famine in Europe have made the Americas an appealing final destination for many since the early decades of colonisation. In the case of Cuba, the island remained a receiving country of migration for many years, but would make a sharp turn outwards as the political climate began to get heated in the second quarter of the 20th century. The main country to welcome the many waves of migration that followed was the United States of America. This mass migration led to a process of transculturation, the merging of two cultures, among the members of the diasporic community, which brought forward feelings of belonging and unbelonging, troubled memories of the past, and questions regarding cultural identity. This master’s thesis intends to examine the impact of migration on the Cuban diaspora living in the United States by carrying out an analysis of the characters that appear in Oscar Hijuelos’ The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1990). Consequently, the analysis will consist of a theoretical framework that aims to expand on the concepts of diaspora, memory, and identity that make up the experience of Cuban immigrants in America; and a literary analysis that will focus on the application of such terms to Hijuelos’ characters. Furthermore, the impact of music, both in the novel and in Cuban culture, will be essential to bring together the theoretical aspects in question. Through the figure of Eugenio Castillo, and driven by his status as second-generation immigrant, this dissertation aims to bring the aforementioned theoretical notions together by presenting him as the ultimate representative of the process of transculturation. To carry it out, the study will be contrasted to several relevant bibliographical sources and will be illustrated with a number of excerpts from the novel.
Long periods of warfare, political tensions, and famine in Europe have made the Americas an appealing final destination for many since the early decades of colonisation. In the case of Cuba, the island remained a receiving country of migration for many years, but would make a sharp turn outwards as the political climate began to get heated in the second quarter of the 20th century. The main country to welcome the many waves of migration that followed was the United States of America. This mass migration led to a process of transculturation, the merging of two cultures, among the members of the diasporic community, which brought forward feelings of belonging and unbelonging, troubled memories of the past, and questions regarding cultural identity. This master’s thesis intends to examine the impact of migration on the Cuban diaspora living in the United States by carrying out an analysis of the characters that appear in Oscar Hijuelos’ The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1990). Consequently, the analysis will consist of a theoretical framework that aims to expand on the concepts of diaspora, memory, and identity that make up the experience of Cuban immigrants in America; and a literary analysis that will focus on the application of such terms to Hijuelos’ characters. Furthermore, the impact of music, both in the novel and in Cuban culture, will be essential to bring together the theoretical aspects in question. Through the figure of Eugenio Castillo, and driven by his status as second-generation immigrant, this dissertation aims to bring the aforementioned theoretical notions together by presenting him as the ultimate representative of the process of transculturation. To carry it out, the study will be contrasted to several relevant bibliographical sources and will be illustrated with a number of excerpts from the novel.
Direction
ALONSO ALONSO, MARIA (Tutorships)
ALONSO ALONSO, MARIA (Tutorships)
Court
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
GONZALEZ GROBA, CONSTANTE (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
PALACIOS GONZALEZ, MANUELA (Member)
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
GONZALEZ GROBA, CONSTANTE (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
PALACIOS GONZALEZ, MANUELA (Member)
And My Weapon is Hate: The abject body as a political weapon in The Immortal Hulk
Authorship
R.P.G.
Master in Advanced English Studies and its Applications
R.P.G.
Master in Advanced English Studies and its Applications
Defense date
02.12.2025 14:00
02.12.2025 14:00
Summary
Julia Kristeva's concept of the abject runs through the veins of Gothic fiction, from is inception to its modern iterations, and has evolved past the written word and into other forms of fiction. Among a sea of monstrous creations, Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk (2018-2021) stands out as a work that not only embraces the roots of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction by fixating on the physicality of the monster it portrays, but manages to evolve the concept of the monster itself by presenting abjection and physical otherness in itself as a political weapon. This thesis intends to examine Immortal Hulk as an evolution of Gothic monster narratives, utilizing the work of Julia Kristeva to analyze the trajectory of the physically abject in literature. To this end, this study will be structure into three main parts. In the first one, the concept of the abject will be examined as it pertains to Gothic fiction and Gothic monsters across its timeline. This will be followed by a contextualization of the character of the Hulk as a creation inspired by works of Gothic fiction, and finally, the third chapter will provide a close reading of Immortal Hulk in which I shall examine its position as a recontextualization of the Hulk mythos as well as the evolution of the Gothic abject it presents, in the form of a political weapon.
Julia Kristeva's concept of the abject runs through the veins of Gothic fiction, from is inception to its modern iterations, and has evolved past the written word and into other forms of fiction. Among a sea of monstrous creations, Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk (2018-2021) stands out as a work that not only embraces the roots of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction by fixating on the physicality of the monster it portrays, but manages to evolve the concept of the monster itself by presenting abjection and physical otherness in itself as a political weapon. This thesis intends to examine Immortal Hulk as an evolution of Gothic monster narratives, utilizing the work of Julia Kristeva to analyze the trajectory of the physically abject in literature. To this end, this study will be structure into three main parts. In the first one, the concept of the abject will be examined as it pertains to Gothic fiction and Gothic monsters across its timeline. This will be followed by a contextualization of the character of the Hulk as a creation inspired by works of Gothic fiction, and finally, the third chapter will provide a close reading of Immortal Hulk in which I shall examine its position as a recontextualization of the Hulk mythos as well as the evolution of the Gothic abject it presents, in the form of a political weapon.
Direction
Pereira Ares, Noemí (Tutorships)
Pereira Ares, Noemí (Tutorships)
Court
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
LOJO RODRIGUEZ, LAURA MARIA (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
SACIDO ROMERO, JORGE (Member)
BLANCO SUAREZ, ZELTIA (Coordinator)
LOJO RODRIGUEZ, LAURA MARIA (Chairman)
JIMENEZ PLACER, SUSANA MARIA (Secretary)
SACIDO ROMERO, JORGE (Member)