Puerto Rican fiction--History and criticism

Through careful selection of historical events and linguistic transformations, Ana Lydia Vega, born in 1946, tries to capture the essence of a diverse array of Puerto Rican figures. She bases her fiction on historical facts, cultural aspects, and linguistic peculiarities. Her writing blends these three aspects; however, the use of the unique Puerto Rican verbal expression is the foremost tool of her conceptualization. Because of the attention to detail, her work has become focal in contemporary Puerto Rican studies. Her work is marked by the constant use of humor even though the daily lives of her characters are marked by the tragedy of Puerto Rican historical search for identity. This study examines four of her stories "Letra para salsa y tres soneos por encargo," "Puerto Rican Syndrome o cosas extranas veredes," "Sobre tumbas y heroes (folletin de caballeria boricua)" y "El regreso del heroe." Her transformation of history, with its political connotations, and of culture through the fine articulation of colloquial Puerto Rican Spanish constitute the focus of this study.