Body, Language and Heterogeneity in Dominicanish, by Josefina Báez

Abstract

In Dominicanish (2000), the Dominican Josefina Báez depicts the complex and multifaceted reality of diasporic subjects. This reality is replete with heterogeneous elements which form part of this work and the daily life of the protagonist. By means of linguistic elements as well as corporal movements the poetic subject forms spaces which allow her to articulate the amalgam character of the immigrant subject. The protagonist constructs a reality in which she succeeds in adapting and reinventing herself by means of constant interactions with differences. Taking the above into account, this work aims to approach the work of Báez using Fredric Jameson‘s "cognitive map" concept. With this purpose, we will focus on linguistic elements, as well as the presence of the body inside and outside the text, as both reflect the subject‘s contact with everyday life and the associated elaboration of the cognitive map.