Walk the Barrio: The Streets of Twenty-First-Century Transnational Latinx Literature

Immigrant communities have a strong connection to their place, and to write about it, one must experience it firsthand. Walk the Barrio explores how authors use their U.C. hometowns as both setting and stylistic inspiration, breaking the rules of genre to render an embodied experience of the barrio. This first-person, interdisciplinary approach presents an innovative model for literary studies, shedding light on how transnationalism transforms the culture of each Latinx barrio.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 314 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2022
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Immigrant communities hold a profound and intimate connection to their places, a notion that Walk the Barrio further emphasizes. Building upon this self-evident premise, the book suggests that to truly write about place, one must immerse oneself in it. Thus, in this captivating exploration of immigrants, writing, and place, Cristina Rodriguez embarks on a journey through the streets of various neighborhoods, engaging in conversations with immigrants, interviewing authors, and physically occupying the spaces she seeks to understand.

The term "barrio" first emerged in the English language in 1833 and has since permeated both American speech and our literary imagination. What captivates Rodriguez about the barrios of Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and other cities is the rich literary heritage that has been nurtured and inspired by these neighborhoods.

Walk the Barrio delves into the fascinating ways in which authors such as William Archila, Richard Blanco, Angie Cruz, Junot Díaz, Salvador Plascencia, Héctor Tobar, and Helena María Viramontes harness their U.S. hometowns as both setting and stylistic inspiration. Rodriguez explores how these writers innovate within or challenge genre conventions to convey an embodied experience of the barrio. She examines, for instance, how the spatial landscape of New Brunswick influences the mobility of Díaz's female characters or how graffiti shapes the aesthetics of Viramontess novels. By mapping the fictional settings of each text onto the actual spaces they reference, Rodriguez unveils the interconnectedness between place, narrative form, and migrancy.

This first-person, interdisciplinary approach offers a groundbreaking model for literary studies, shedding valuable light on how transnationalism reshapes the cultural dynamics of each Latinx barrio. It highlights significant shifts in gender roles, family structures, social normativity, and racial and ethnic identities. Through her immersive exploration, Rodriguez invites readers to witness the transformative power of place and its profound impact on the lives of immigrants and their communities.

Weight: 204g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813948065