Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6500

Date

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

English

Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Cary Holladay

Committee Member

Jessica Swan

Committee Member

Aram G Goudsouzian

Abstract

So Close and Yet So Far is a novella in two parts, which takes place during two distinct time periods in Cuban history. The first part involves a female protagonist, Gloria Menocal Quintana, who begins her journey toward a singing career during the late 1940s, a time of great excess when the American and Italian Mafias held control of the nightclubs and casinos in Havana. Themes of sexual exploitation of women in entertainment, machismo, political upheaval, and infertility are explored in this section. The second part follows Gloria’s second cousin, Pedro Olivares, a young man who escapes Cuba on a raft in the early 1990s and suffers from culture shock and PTSD after arriving in Miami. Pedro visits Gloria in New York City a few years later, and, despite their large age difference, they bond over their past struggles and shared love for the homeland they left behind. While technically not historical fiction, the use of historical events and real settings are included to provide context and, possibly, a sense of relatability to some readers.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Download

Share

COinS