"Crossing Waters" is the first book-length study to examine literary and artistic representations of unauthorized maritime migration in the Hispanophone Caribbean from both insular and diaspora perspectives. Through a focus on the rarely studied process of crossing waters–the moment of in-betweenness at sea–the book unsettles the centrality of the Mexico-U.S. border in Latina/o studies and examines the parallels between these regions. In addition to studying the depictions of Cuban balseros (rafters) and Dominicans traveling by yolas (makeshift vessels), it focuses on the role that the Puerto Rican archipelago plays as border, borderland, and bridge to the continental U.S. The book places archipelago and border studies in interdisciplinary dialogue to reveal how the borders of the archipelago are reinforced, challenged, and dismantled in the cultural production of the Hispanophone Caribbean and its diaspora. It also centers intra-Caribbean undocumented migration so as to challenge the predominant image of the Caribbean as paradise and examine the impact of colonialism, imperialism, neoliberalism, and globalization in the region–all embodied in the phenomenon of unauthorized maritime migration.
Originally published by at romancelanguages.nd.edu on August 15, 2022.