Ana Lydia Vega

Infobox writer


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name = Ana Lydia Vega
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birthdate = 1946
birthplace = Santurce, Puerto Rico
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occupation = short story writer
nationality = Puerto Rico
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awards = Premio Juan Rulfo (1982) Premio Casa de las Américas (1981)


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Ana Lydia Vega, (b. 1946, Santurce, Puerto Rico) is one of Puerto Rico's most celebrated contemporary authors. She is the recipient of both the Premio Juan Rulfo (1982) and the Premio Casa de las Américas (1981). Vega belongs to a generation of Puerto Rican writers that has integrated into their writing mordant reflections on the ambiguous status of their island nation, one that is not fully independent yet not fully a member of the US federation (See Political Activity, below). Ana Lydia Vega pursued an academic career as a professor of both French literature and Caribbean studies (retiring from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras) at the same time that she became an accomplished author,

Ana Lydia Vega's Narrative

Vega's fiction is an example of postmodern writing. This article will present the historical and literary context of her work, and will also point out to Vega's interest in language and its implications, the uses of parody and humor, and also her interest in feminism.

Historic Context

Puerto Rico’s history plays a role in Ana Lydia Vega’s narrative. The country became a U.S. territory under the Treaty of Paris (1898) after the Spanish American War. Remorse still exists toward one of the leading causes of the war, and many people believe that the bombing of the Maine was a conspiracy. This sentiment is present in Ana Lydia Vega’s works.

Puerto Rico became a commonwealth after adopting a constitution in July 25, 1952. Because of the nation’s ties to the United States, English is mixed with Spanish to make up the dialect of the region, and the dialect is used in her writings.

In 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act gave U.S. citizenship to the citizens of Puerto Rico, and they have served in the military since World War I; however, the United States had appointed their governors until 1947 when Puerto Rico's citizens were granted the right to democratically elect their own governor. In the 1950’s, Puerto Rico experienced a rapid growth in the economy due to Operación Manos a la Obra, which promoted industrialization. Migration to the United States is common, and it is also a theme in Ana Lydia Vega’s short stories.

Literary Context

The literary context that Ana Lydia uses in her work is very profound because it causes a reader to think a lot. Lydia writes during the Postmodernism age where she expresses her thoughts on everyday aspects. The context in which she writes is about everyday life, history, and culture. She gives a lot of testimony within her work and talks about aspects such as feminism, machismo, and more as a means to embrace her culture, while at the same time posing concerns that exist within the culture and that people should think about and try to change. Whether or not a reader agrees with her point is irrelevant, but her goal is to get people to think about crucial aspects within their society. Life experience is a theme found in her work and that helps give much testimony in her work. Another thing she notes is the mixture of two cultures together, such as Puerto Rico and its relationship with the United States. It is important to have a relationship, but Vega wants people to know that we should not forget where we come from on a cultural standpoint.

Language

Language in Vega’s works is used in ways that break every norm of the language’s grammar. To complicate matters more, she is not limited to the official language of Spanish. The reason for this is because in 1898, as a result of Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American war, the United States intervened and imposed their culture on the islanders. The situation that they find themselves in is best described by Russian language theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, which explains the relationship between multiple languages that are apparently united under the same national language. According to Bakhtin, in modern times, languages coexistence in a state of tension and competition. He particularly alludes to the tension between the official and unofficial language, in other words it is a battle between the market or everyday and erudite languages. Vega’s fiction is one where language is foregrounded as site of unresolved tensions.

Parody and Humor

Ana Lydia Vega's stories contain a deep element of parody and humor. She often invokes a stylistic formula from a genre but draws out a twist or inversion that makes the story her own. In "Ajustes S.A" she writes in a formal bureaucratic tone that is actually a parody of business or bureaucratic writing, and ironically tells the events surrounding a woman trying to rid herself of her almost perfect husband. In another story, "Caso Omiso" she parodies a detective story with a young bungling detective that is being led by a woman. The real twist, though, comes at the end in a surprising denouement when the characters find out that the man they now thought was innocent was indeed a murderer. Ana Lydia Vega loves to play with both language and genre. In each work, she challenges convention and authority both in terms of language and theme. The inversion and twist she gives to each of her stories lends an artistic originality to her works. Among the writers of Puerto Rico, Giannina Braschi shares Vega's riveting sense of humor and drama.

Feminism in Vega's work

In most of Vega’s writings, hierarchy is the common denominator in all relationships. This set up allows her to dictate the condition of the character that is being subordinated. One way she infuses feminism into her stories is to always put males on the subordinated side of the spectrum. In “Ajustes S.A.”, story found in her book “Pasión de historias y historias de pasion” the main purpose of the women-driven relationship “agency” is to lesser the male’s condition. This imaginary agency trains wives to get rid of their well behaved husbands, clearly a sign of feminism. Also, it is important to notice the female’s level of authority. Females are able to excel at directing a single sex agency which main purpose is solely the subordination of the opposite sex. This power and constant abuse could be seen as an extreme case of feminism, but is up to the eye of the critic to label it. Another example of Vega’s close connection to her writings appears in “Caso omiso.” This story, also in the same book, recounts the erotic tale between an older woman and a teenage boy. From the start, the female obviously dictates the direction of the relationship. Confident about her abusive power, she reaches farther and tests her ex-husbands will of subordination, task that she fulfills. However, the root of her power is her total control of the feelings of an obsessed teenage boy and a frustrated husband who can not overcome the results of their separation. These short stories show the women’s hierarchy in both relationships. Knowing her victim’s feelings, she accommodates her self in the best possible position. This can be seen as another feminist element in her work.

Political Activity

Recently, on January 26, 2006, Ana Lydia Vega joined other internationally renowned figures and Latin American authors such as Nobel-laureate Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Benedetti, Ernesto Sábato, Thiago de Mello, Eduardo Galeano, Pablo Armando Fernández, Carlos Monsiváis, Jorge Enrique Adoum, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Mayra Montero and world famous singer/composer Pablo Milanés, in demanding sovereignty for Puerto Rico and adding their name and signatue to the Latin American and Caribbean Congress' Proclamation for the Independence of Puerto Rico, which approved a resolution favoring the island-nation's right to assert its independence, as ratified unanimously by political parties hailing from twenty two Latin American countries in November 2006. Ana Lydia Vega's public demand for the recognition of Puerto Rico's independence -in unison with other Latin American writers and figures in the cultural world- was obtained at the behest of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP).

See also

*List of Puerto Rican writers
*List of famous Puerto Ricans
*Puerto Rican literature

Critical studies in English

#Ana Lydia Vega, True and False Romances By: Feracho, Lesley. IN: Quintana, "Reading U. S. Latina Writers: Remapping American Literature." New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan; 2003. pp. 181-96
#Ana Lydia Vega: Linguistic Women and Another Counter-Assault or Can the Master(s) Hear? By: Labiosa, David J.. IN: Athey, "Sharpened Edge: Women of Color, Resistance, and Writing." Westport, CT: Praeger; 2003. pp. 187-201
#The Representation of Puerto Rican Women in Two Short Stories by Ana Lydia Vega: 'Letra para salsa y tres soneos por encargo' (1979) and 'Pollito Chicken' (1977) By: Green, Mary; "Tesserae: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies," 2002 Dec; 8 (2): 127-41.
#Traces of Santería in Encancaranublado By: Pardo, Diana; "Céfiro," 2002 Fall; 3 (1): 25-30.
#Translating Laughter: Humor as a Special Challenge in Translating the Stories of Ana Lydia Vega By: Wallace, Carol J.; "Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association," 2002 Fall; 35 (2): 75-87.
#Ana Lydia Vega's "Falsas crónicas del sur": Reconstruction and Revision of Puerto Rico's Past By: Gosser-Esquilín, Mary Ann. IN: Juan-Navarro, and Young, "A Twice-Told Tale: Reinventing the Encounter in Iberian/Iberian American Literature and Film." Newark, DE; London, England: U of Delaware P; Associated UP; 2001. pp. 193-209
#Intersections in Ana Lydia Vega's 'Pasión de historia' By: Craig, Linda; "MaComère: Journal of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars," 2001; 4: 71-83.
#A Sense of Space, a Sense of Speech: A Conversation with Ana Lydia Vega By: Hernández, Carmen Dolores; "Hopscotch: A Cultural Review," 2000; 2 (2): 52-59.
#"Virgins and Fleurs de Lys: Nation and Gender in Québec and Puerto Rico" By: Den Tandt, Catherine. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico; 2000.
#The Hispanic Post-Colonial Tourist By: Martí-Olivella, Jaume; "Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies," 1997; 1: 23-42.
#Like English for Spanish: Meditaciones desde la frontera anglorriqueña By: Unruh, Vicky; "Siglo XX/20th Century," 1997; 15 (1-2): 147-61.
#Ana Lydia Vega, the Caribbean Storyteller By: Puleo, Augustus; "Afro-Hispanic Review," 1996 Fall; 15 (2): 21-25. (journal article)
#Thematic and Narrative Strategies in Lydia Vega's 'Pollito chicken' By: Engling, Ezra S.; C"ollege Language Association Journal," 1996 Mar; 39 (3): 341-56.
#'What's Wrong with this Picture?' Ana Lydia Vega's 'Caso omiso' By: Boling, Becky; "Revista de Estudios Hispánicos," 1996; 23: 315-24.
#Subverting and Re-Defining Sexuality in 'Three Love Aerobics' by Ana Lydia Vega By: Puleo, Augustus C.; "Letras Femeninas," 1995 Spring-Fall; 21 (1-2): 57-67.
#'Así son': Salsa Music, Female Narratives, and Gender (De)Construction in Puerto Rico By: Aparicio, Frances R.; "Poetics Today," 1994 Winter; 15 (4): 659-84.
#Women and Writing in Puerto Rico: An Interview with Ana Lydia Vega By: Hernández, Elizabeth; "Callaloo: A Journal of African American and African Arts and Letters," 1994 Summer; 17 (3): 816-25.
#We Are (Not) in This Together: The Caribbean Imaginary in 'Encancaranublado' by Ana Lydia Vega By: Vélez, Diana L.; "Callaloo: A Journal of African American and African Arts and Letters," 1994 Summer; 17 (3): 826-33.
#Tracing Nation and Gender: Ana Lydia Vega By: Den Tandt, Catherine; "Revista de Estudios Hispanicos," 1994 Jan; 28 (1): 3-24.
#Contaminations linguistiques: Actes d'anéantissement ou d'enrichissement d'une langue? By: Impériale, Louis. IN: Crochetière, Boulanger and Ouellon, "Actes du XVe Congrès International des Linguistes, Québec, Université Laval, 9-14 août 1992: Les Langues menacées/Endangered Languages: Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Linguists, Québec, Université Laval, 9-14 August 1992." Sainte-Foy: PU Laval; 1993. pp. III: 351-54
#The Reproduction of Ideology in Ana Lydia Vega's 'Pasión de historia' and 'Caso omiso' By: Boling, Becky; "Letras Femeninas," 1991 Spring-Fall; 17 (1-2): 89-97.
#The Voice Recaptured: Fiction by Dany Bebel-Gisler and Ana Lydia Vega By: Romero, Ivette; "Journal of Caribbean Studies," 1991-1992 Winter-Spring; 8 (3): 159-65.
#Social Criticism in the Contemporary Short Story of Selected Puerto Rican Women Writers By: Wallace, Jeanne C.; "MACLAS: Latin American Essays," 1989; 3: 113-23.
#Pollito chicken: Split Subjectivity, National Identity and the Articulation of Female Sexuality in a Narrative by Ana Lydia Vega By: Vélez, Diana L.; "The Americas Review: A Review of Hispanic Literature and Art of the USA," 1986 Summer; 14 (2): 68-76.
#From a Woman's Perspective: The Short Stories of Rosario Ferré and Ana Lydia Vega By: Fernandez Olmos, Margarite. IN: Meyer and Fernández Olmos, "Contemporary Women Authors of Latin America: Introductory Essays." Brooklyn: Brooklyn Coll. P; 1983. pp. 78-90