Death Danzón: Latina/o Literary Aesthetics in Salsa Nocturna Stories

• In Event: New Versions of “Border Crossing” in U.S. Latino Literatures

Abstract

Through the 1990s, Chicana/o and Latina/o Literary criticism framed acculturation to Anglo America as central to the literatures. Thus, scholars elided identity construction within these communities. Presciently, narratologist Frank Kermode argued, “Fictions are for finding things out, and they change as the needs of sense-making change” (39). Chicana/o and Latina/o fiction has changed: now a discursive space to explore—but not necessarily affirm—ethnic cultures’ epistemology, the literatures increasingly focus on empowerment within Chicana/o and Latina/o America. The return to and transformation of formulaic genres including the detective novel, science fiction/fantasy, and noir, encourage scholarly return to narratology.
Daniel José Older’s speculative fiction/noir story collection, Salsa Nocturna Stories (2012), offers readers a case study in the dynamism of contemporary Latina/o literature. The navigation of hierarchy in Latina/o America is central to Older’s narratives. This essay proposes a narratological analysis of three stories representative of his project. The titular and opening narrative, “Salsa Nocturna Stories,” portrays music as a medium crossing ethnonational and metaphysical boundaries. “Read Feather and Bone,” appearing mid-collection, evokes the pre-Colombian, African origins of Latinos. “Phantom Overload” closes the collection with a critique of intra-Latina/o racism and promise of transnational coalition.

Author

• Ylce Irizarry