Pragmatic Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic Drama explores the work of a unique group of playwrights—Puerto Rican dramatists writing in the United States—who offer a model of political engagement. As members of the Puerto Rican diaspora, they have a heightened awareness of the systematic discrimination and the colonial citizenship created by Puerto Rico’s territorial status. Pragmatic Liberation analyzes the work of established playwrights as well as work that has previously received little attention in the world of theater studies, including René Marqués’s Palm Sunday. The book demonstrates the strategies these playwrights use to model a nuanced way of moving toward liberation while being sensitive to the potential impact these actions might have on those closest to us. This is a crucially important model that needs more attention in our currently polarized political moment.

Jon D. Rossini is Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance and Performance Studies, at the University of California, Davis. 

PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION. Given Circumstances, Premise, and Pragmatic Strategies of Liberation
CHAPTER 1. From Palm Sunday to REVOLT!: Rethinking the Political Horizon of Puerto Rican
  Diasporic Drama
CHAPTER 2. Symbolic Action as Pragmatic Politics: Lolita on the Stage
CHAPTER 3. Diasporic Return and the Limits of Pragmatic Liberation
CHAPTER 4. Before Revolution, Honesty?: The Everyday Pragmatics of Activist Work
CHAPTER 5. After the Revolution: Massacres, Collateral Damage, and Moving Forward
CONCLUSION. The Labyrinth of Free Association and Sustainable Pragmatic Liberation
NOTES
REFERENCES