Justice for ¡Pobre Sinda!: Translation of an Anti-slavery Puerto Rican Play
Proposal Description
Puerto Rican playwright Ramón Méndez Quiñones’ (1847-1889) ¡Pobre Sinda! (1884) captivates the audience with its depiction of the “época de la odiosa esclavitud” in this play that remained unpublished until 1991 and has never been staged. Puerto Rico officially entered the sugar industry and the slave trade as a response to the decrease in production of sugar due to the Haitian Revolution (1794-1804). Slave trading ended by 1840 prompting discussions of alternative forms of labor. The significance of Méndez Quiñones’ work does not reside in the literary merits alone but, rather, as a document that provides a glimpse into the slave regime on the island. Equally important to bear in mind that texts that contain the thematic representation of slavery are scarce in nineteenth century Puerto Rican literature. Faced with the dearth of critical attention, the purpose of this presentation is to examine this play and argue that it belongs among the rich Caribbean anti-establishment literary mode that is representative of 19th century cultural production. In this view, the translation will provide a more accurate comprehension of that historical time period and racial attitudes on the sugar plantations on the island.
Justice for ¡Pobre Sinda!: Translation of an Anti-slavery Puerto Rican Play
Puerto Rican playwright Ramón Méndez Quiñones’ (1847-1889) ¡Pobre Sinda! (1884) captivates the audience with its depiction of the “época de la odiosa esclavitud” in this play that remained unpublished until 1991 and has never been staged. Puerto Rico officially entered the sugar industry and the slave trade as a response to the decrease in production of sugar due to the Haitian Revolution (1794-1804). Slave trading ended by 1840 prompting discussions of alternative forms of labor. The significance of Méndez Quiñones’ work does not reside in the literary merits alone but, rather, as a document that provides a glimpse into the slave regime on the island. Equally important to bear in mind that texts that contain the thematic representation of slavery are scarce in nineteenth century Puerto Rican literature. Faced with the dearth of critical attention, the purpose of this presentation is to examine this play and argue that it belongs among the rich Caribbean anti-establishment literary mode that is representative of 19th century cultural production. In this view, the translation will provide a more accurate comprehension of that historical time period and racial attitudes on the sugar plantations on the island.