FAMILY MATTERS: REVISITING LA GRAN FAMILIA PUERTORRIQUE A IN THE WORKS OF ROSARIO FERRé AND JUDITH ORTíZ COFER

This essay argues for the recognition of a Puerto Rican 'transinsular' canon, one that reflects the transnational character of this population. I focus on key works by representative figures from each side of the divide, Rosario Ferré's Maldito amor and Judith Ortíz Cofer's Silent Dancing, in order to demonstrate how women's insular and stateside literatures are linked by their interrogation of the foundational myth of la gran familia puertorrique a. My comparative approach aims to show that traditional criteria used to determine canonicity on the island has been rendered obsolete by the reality of transmigration.