Date of Award

2021-05-01

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Creative Writing

Advisor(s)

Rosa Alcalá

Abstract

Island Girl Can't Swim is an exploration of romantic love by and about someone who seemingly does not understand it. Through different frameworks, those of Puerto Rico's colonialism, pop culture and personal experience, understanding is attempted within a society with rigid definitions of love. This rigidity extends beyond those of heteronormativity, nationality, and culture to include, and center, experience and what qualifies as love. Through a narrative constructed through poems with characters, such as Island Girl and her main love interest Border Boy, Island Girl Can't Swim blurs the lines of expectations among a variety of structures that are considered given, if the aforementioned are even acknowledged as structures at all.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

94 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Laura Vazquez Lopez

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