Article
Ana Lydia Vega's "Pollito Chicken": Stripped to the Bone
Caribe: revista de cultura y literatura
(2012)
Abstract
ollito Chicken" (1981) by Ana Lydia Vega, included in
the co-authored collection of short stories Virgenes y
martires, reflects the inconsistencies and complex binary
identity of the Puerto Rican colonial subject. Due to its
polemic subject matter, the story has been widely criticized and not
always cast in a positive light; critics Aurea Maria Sotomayor and
Margarita Fernandez Olmos deem the story "superficial" and "uncontrolled"
while Nicholasa Mohr points to Vega's neglect of her homeland
community, emphasizing the importance of defending Puerto Rico
against the "Island's intellectuals" (90).2The defining feature of the story
is the incessant code switching between Spanish and English. Although
the grammatical structure adheres to Spanish norms, the Spanglish that
Vega utilizes distinguishes her as a writer capable of writing in two '
voices and two languages. However, Vega's fragmented voice is not the
only one heard in "Pollito Chicken." The story's female protagonist,
Suzie Bermudez, is an Americanized second-generation Puerto Rican, a
proud resident of New York City. Suzie, unsure of, and often denying,
whether she is at all boricua, is caught in a constant interior battle
between the ideologies and cultures of two different countries, Puerto
Rico and the United States.3 In the same sense that Vega's use of
Spanglish represents a satirical and political agenda, Suzie's use of the
same represents a colonial mask...
Disciplines
Publication Date
2012
Publisher Statement
This article is published as Myers, Megan Jeanette. "Ana Lydia Vega's" Pollito Chicken": stripped to the bone." Caribe: revista de cultura y literatura 15, no. 1 (2012): 47-66. Posted with permission.
Citation Information
Megan Myers. "Ana Lydia Vega's "Pollito Chicken": Stripped to the Bone" Caribe: revista de cultura y literatura Vol. 15 Iss. 1 (2012) p. 47 - 66 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/megan-myers/6/