Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds teases out the intricacies of a territorial conception of nationhood in the context of a global reorganization that ostensibly renders historical boundaries irrelevant. Hispanic Caribbean writers have traditionally pointed toward the supposed perfect equivalence of island and nation and have explained local culture as a direct consequence of that equation. The major social, political, and demographic shifts of the twentieth century increasingly call this equation into question, yet authors continue to assert its existence and its centrality in the evolution of Caribbean identity. The author contends that traditional forms of identification have not been eviscerated by globalization; instead, they have persisted and, in some cases, have been intensified by recent geopolitical shifts. Out of Bounds underscores the ongoing role of the nation as the site of identity formation. In this manner, the book presents Hispanic Caribbean cultural production as a case study that acutely dramatizes the paradoxical status of traditional demarcations of self-definition in an increasingly globalized context.