ABSTRACT

Studying historical context is key to gain expertise in Boricua literature. Even highly motivated autodidactic teachers have a hard time simply finding the material that gives them the texts and historical contexts of the lives of stateside Puerto Rican students. Teaching this material requires knowledge of the colonial history of Puerto Rico and the social history of the colonial diaspora in the continental United States. This chapter provides suggestions and ideas for those who are not teaching at a university along with suggested reading for those who do not have the opportunity to study this field in any formal way. For a view of the work being done to create a literary canon of the Puerto Rican diaspora, there are a few monographs, anthologies, and encyclopedias that are useful. For the outline and major figures of the intellectual and literary history of the Puerto Rican diaspora, with a focus on narrative genres, Boricua Literature is a foundational text.