Background
Luis, William was born on July 12, 1948 in New York City. Son of Domingo Luis and Petra Liduvina Santos.
( Cuba continues to loom large in U.S. consciousness and ...)
Cuba continues to loom large in U.S. consciousness and politics. Culture and Customs of Cuba is a much-needed resource to give students and other readers an in-depth view of our important island neighbor. Luis, of Cuban descent, provides detailed, clear insight into Cuban culture in its historical context. Religion, customs, economy, media, performing and creative arts, and cinema are some of the many topics discussed. Included in this discussion are contributions of Cubans in exile which Luis considers an inherent part of Cuban culture. Encouraging a wider understanding of Cuba, this volume describes and highlights the cultures and customs of the island. Cuba, as one will learn while reading this book, is an island of many cultural customs that have evolved out of a rich history. Presented in the context of three interrelated periods in Cuban history: the Colonial, the Republic, and Castro's Revolution, this book explores Cuba's dynamic culture. Luis also notes the spread of Cuban culture abroad, where a significant part of the Cuban population has lived since the earl 19th century. Students and others interested in this country will find this book to be extraordinarily helpful and informative.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313360952/?tag=2022091-20
( In the nineteenth century, the Cuban economy rested on ...)
In the nineteenth century, the Cuban economy rested on the twin pillars of sugar and slaves. Slavery was abolished in 1886, but, one hundred years later, Cuban authors were still writing antislavery narratives. William Luis explores this seeming paradox in his groundbreaking study Literary Bondage, asking why this literary genre has remained a viable means of expression. Applying Foucault's theory of counter-discourse to a vast body of antislavery literature, Luis shows how these narratives have always served to undermine the foundations of slavery, to protest the marginalized status of blacks in Cuban society, and to rewrite the canon of "acceptable" history and literature. He finds that emancipation did not end the need for such counter-discourse and reveals how the antislavery narrative continues to provide a forum for voices that have been silenced by the dominant culture. In addition to such well-known works as Cecilia Valdés, The Kingdom of This World, and The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave, Luis draws on many literary works outside the familiar canon, including Romualdo, uno de tantos, Aponte, Sofía La familia Unzúazu, El negrero, and Los guerrilleros negros. This comprehensive coverage raises important questions about the process of canon-formation and brings to light Cuba's rich heritage of Afro-Latin literature and culture.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0292741324/?tag=2022091-20
(Offers insights on Latino Caribbean writers born or raise...)
Offers insights on Latino Caribbean writers born or raised in the United States who are at the vanguard of a literary movement that has captured both critical and popular interest. In this groundbreaking study, William Luis analyzes the most salient and representative narrative and poetic works of the newest literary movement to emerge in Spanish American and U.S. literatures. The book is divided into three sections, each focused on representative Puerto Rican American, Cuban American, and Dominican American authors. Luis traces the writers' origins and influences from the nineteenth century to the present, focusing especially on the contemporary works of Oscar Hijuelos, Julia Alvarez, Cristina Garcia, and Piri Thomas, among others. While engaging in close readings of the texts, Luis places them in a broader social, historical, political, and racial perspective to expose the tension between text and context. As a group, Latino Caribbeans write an ethnic literature in English that is born of their struggle to forge an identity separate from both the influences of their parents' culture and those of the United States. For these writers, their parents' country of origin is a distant memory. They have developed a culture of resistance and a language that mediates between their parents' identity and the culture that they themselves live in. Latino Caribbeans are engaged in a metaphorical dance with Anglo Americans as the dominant culture. Just as that dance represents a coming together of separate influences to make a unique art form, so do both Hispanic and North American cultures combine to bring a new literature into being. This new body of literature helps us to understand not only the adjustments Latino Caribbean cultures have had to make within the larger U.S. environment but also how the dominant culture has been affected by their presence.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826513956/?tag=2022091-20
Luis, William was born on July 12, 1948 in New York City. Son of Domingo Luis and Petra Liduvina Santos.
Bachelor, State University of New York, Binghamton, 1971. Master of Arts, University Wisconsin, 1973. Master of Arts, Cornell University, 1979.
Doctor of Philosophy, Cornell University, 1980.
Instructor Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1979—1980, assistant professor, 1980—1985, associate professor, 1985—1988. Visiting associate professor Washington University, St. Louis, 1988, State University of New York, Binghamton, 1988—1989, associate professor, 1989—1991, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 1991—1996, professor, since 1996. Visiting professor Yale University, New Haven, 1998.
Member advisory board Afro-Hispanic Review, Columbia, Missouri, since 1987, Hispanic Journal, Indiana, Pennsylvania, since 1993, Revista de Estudios Hispanicos, St. Louis, since 1993, Cuban Studies/Estudios Cubanos, since 1994, Journal Afro-Latin/American Research Association, since 1996, Caribe: Revista de Cultura y Literatura, 1998. Controller Encuentro en la Red.
(Offers insights on Latino Caribbean writers born or raise...)
( In the nineteenth century, the Cuban economy rested on ...)
( Cuba continues to loom large in U.S. consciousness and ...)
Member of Association of Caribbean Studies (vice president 1979-1986), Afro-L.Am. Research Association (advisory board since 1996), Latin America Studies Association.
Married Linda Lee Garceau, January 1, 1984. Children: Tammie, Gabriel, Diego, Stephanie.