In Search of Belonging: Navigating Racial and Gender Inclusion in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s "The Line of the Sun"

• In Event: Caribbean Latinidades: Texts, Contexts, Performances

Abstract

In the aftermath of Hurricane María, Puerto Ricans experienced overt messages of unbelonging by the current presidential administration. While Puerto Rican elected officials and leaders reminded us of Puerto Rican’s American citizenship and the rights this citizenship entitled Puerto Ricans particularly during this time of crisis, the treatment they experienced made evident how this citizenship did not guarantee inclusion or justice. This experience of unbelonging has been a historically consistent one for Puerto Ricans. When looking at the Puerto Rican experience from an intersectional perspective we see how experiences of unbelonging are shaped by ones race and gender.

In this paper I will focus on how Puerto Ricans’ sense of unbelonging, as a racialized and gendered experience, is represented in the novel The Line of the Sun, by Judith Ortiz Cofer. In this novel we find numerous characters who experience alienation from their communities based on gender and race both on the island and in New Jersey as Puerto Rican migrants. From the deviant Guzmán who defies all rules of propriety, to Rosa “La Cabra” who is ostracized by the Holy Rosary Society for her sexual expression, to Ramona and Rafael who each grapple with creating a sense of home in New Jersey, to Marisol, who finds she doesn’t belong to either Puerto Rican or American cultural expectations, Ortiz Cofer’s novel offers a complex exploration of how Puerto Ricans negotiate national inclusion amidst consistent messages of unbelonging.

Author

• Elizabeth García, University of Florida