Puerto Rico Nació En Mí: Testimonios of Two DiaspoRicans in Academia

• In Event: Drawing on Funds of Knowledge to Engage in Research: Latina Scholars in an Intergenerational Dialogue

Abstract

In this paper we use testimonios as a form of narrative inquiry to address our distinctive DiaspoRican standpoint as females in academia. We aim to theorize about the nature of Latina epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) when considered from a DiaspoRican perspective. Through narrative inquiry, the authors seek to: (1) share testimonios about their experiences in the diaspora (2) learn about the uniqueness of their positionalities as DiaspoRicans and how it differs from the literature that on the experiences of Mexican American Latinas in academia, and (3) identify the funds of knowledge that serve as resources for maintaining cultural identity and shaping our research.

Much of the discourse in academia ignores Latino heterogeneity and is based on the Mexican American experience (Torres, 2004). The term DiaspoRican was coined by Mariposa Hernández to capture the complexity of Puerto Rican identity and the variety of experiences within the Puerto Rican diaspora (Antrop-González & De Jesús, 2006). There is little research on the experiences of Puerto Ricans as a subset Latino group among other Latinos (i.e. Puerto Ricans in the Midwest or West coast, which are predominately Mexican).

The goal of testimonio is with the storyteller-participant who desires to make their experience known and inspire change (Tierney, 2000). We use testimonios to create knowledge and theorize our realities as DiaspoRicans (Latina Feminist Group, 2001). Our goal is to examine how our collective lived experiences as DiaspoRicans can differ from the Mexican-dominated Latino populations in which we are located. Each scholar will write their stories separately, exchange them with each other, read them, and then discuss them. Subsequently, we will co-construct a collective version by analyzing the narratives as data sources and arrive at underlying insights and assumptions that the stories illustrate (Bell, 1997).

Our paper fills a gap in the literature regarding intragroup differences. The findings will be themes related to the DiaspoRican experience regarding language, cultural traditions, migration patterns and racial features that hold across the two narratives. The mutual identification that results becomes part of the relationship (Ellis & Bochner, 1992). Our co-constructed narrative will create aesthetic homes where our DiaspoRican experiences justly find their space. We anticipate our findings to have implications for future curricular, pedagogical and policy choices with regard to the Puerto Rican experience in mainland U.S. education.

Authors

• Jasmine Marie Viera, Indiana University

• Ursula Casanova, Arizona State University