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In "La literatura dominicana en los Estados Unidos y la periferia del margen," renowned Dorninican critic and intellectual Silvio Torres-Saillant laments the precarious state of Dominican literature written in the United States (7). Published more than a decade ago, the essay criticizes the double marginality of this literature not only in relation to the American canon (center), but perhaps more surprisingly, to the U. S. Latino literary corpus (margin). He predicts that this position, which he cleverly characterizes as the "periphery of the margins," will change in tandem with the status of the Dominican community in die United States (23). The implied invisibility of Dominican literature in the United States - due in part to its Spanish-language, island-oriented themes, and limited publishing mechanisms - will be transformed as Dominican writers come to terms with their condition of permanence in the host society (23). This process would mirror the transition from immigrant to ethnic that Eliana Rivero has described as a "coming into personal awareness of biculturalism" (191).
In his essay, Torres-Saillant predicts that "some individuals will move to the center, especially those who, having completely assimilated to Anglo society, can write 'ethnic autobiography' and translate the experience of their community for the readers at the center" (23; my translation). Given that this article was published three years before the publication of Drown (1996), Junot Diaz's much acclaimed collection of short stories, Torres-Saillant's prophetic observations help to shed light on the process that immigrant and ethnic literatures undergo as they carve their niche in the host society. In this essay, I begin by exploring the relevance and implications of Junot Diaz's move toward the center in relation to both the Dominican and Latino bodies of literature. Most of my analysis, however, focuses on his story "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie." 1 argue that this story, which has not received much critical attention to date, systematically questions the myth of the "Dominican Dream" and contests hegemonic constructions of Dominicanness at home and in the diaspora.
I believe that in Junot Diaz's work we find the embodiment of TorresSaillant's predictions. Diaz's acclaimed "overnight success" and his inclusion in American literary anthologies such as The Best American Short Stories, 1996 represent that shift to the...