Caribbean African upon Awakening / Caribe Africano En Despertar

Poetry. African American Studies. Latino/Latina Studies. Bilingual Edition. Translated from the Spanish by Antonio D. Tillis. This volume offers an introductory biographical sketch of Jimenez, a critical assessment of the Spanish version of the text, Caribe Africano en despertar, and an English translation of the poetic work. Within the work, Jimenez's multiple poetic voices interrogate the cultural politics of the Caribbean region, placing special interest on his homeland, the Dominican Republic. In so doing, Jimenez's poetry brings to the surface contemporary questioning of the continual negation of the history of Africa within the region, due to Spanish, Dutch, British, and French colonial rule and subsequent post-colonial legacies. Key themes of the poetry relate to cultural identity, loss of heritage, post-colonial displacement, poverty, and ultimately reclamation of Africa and the rich African heritages replete within Caribbean nations. Here is a poetic work that speaks to the multifaceted socio-historical, political, and cultural circumstances that unite Africa-descendants within the Caribbean region, even as it distinguishes rich cultural heritages unique to particular island nations."