Rosario Ferre: A Search for Identity.

Case, Thomas E.

Rosario Ferre has been in the vanguard of fiction, criticism, and theory, in recent years and has helped Puerto Rico assume a more respectable place in Latin American literature. It may be safely stated that her own search for identity as a Latin American woman with ties to the U.S. can be part of the search Puerto Rico has been undertaking for almost one hundred years. To be sure, Puerto Rico occupies a unique place among Spanish-speaking countries, with its status as a U.S. commonwealth. Ample proof of this divisive issue can be found in the current movements, debates, and plebiscites to determine whether the island wishes to become the independent fifty-first state or to retain the status quo. In any case, the struggle between traditional Puerto Rico and changing trends are Ferre's battleground in her works.

Suzanne S. Hintz has made a thorough study of the many aspects of Ferre's life and literary career. Her book Rosario Ferre: A Search for Identity has seven chapters, which mainly explore Ferre's philosophical and literary development, her novels, short stories, literary criticism, children's literature, and translations. There is an appendix containing the Ferre genealogy, a bibliography of works cited, a bibliography of works by and about Ferre, a select theoretical bibliography, and a brief index.

From the very beginning, Hintz displays close contact with Ferre's work and a personal relationship with the author herself. Emphasis is placed on the autobiographical nature of Ferre's writing and on her causes and conflicts. Born in 1938, Rosario Ferre grew up in upper-middle-class Puerto Rico and was later educated in the U.S. She rebelled against the traditional role cut out for her as a Puerto Rican woman and in politics even openly opposed her father, who at one time was governor of the island and the founder of the New Progressive Party. More than anything, Hintz lays stress on Ferre's particular kind of feminism, derived chiefly from the ideas of Helene Cixous. Of her works, her novel Maldito amor and her collection of short stories and poems Papeles de Pandora receive close scrutiny, mainly for Ferre's interest in social reform and the improvement of the status of women in a patriarchal society. Hintz claims that Ferre seeks her identity in "veritistic" fiction, for which she has drawn critical approaches from critics like Kristeva and Genette. As part of her straddling two cultures, Ferre has participated in the translating of her own works into English. She admits to altering her texts in translation to a considerable extent, avoiding the vulgar language of the original and toning down the anti-U.S. references.

Some of Rosario Ferre: A Search for Identity is in need of revision, as it tends to be repetitive and occasionally overly pedagogical. On the other hand, a work of this kind, loaded with bibliographic and biographical material, is always welcomed by students of Latin American literature.

Thomas E. Case San Diego State University