Full Description
This book shares the life narrative of Deysi Quiñones to shed light on the intricate relationship between her life and the wider cultural, political, social, and historical contexts of the Dominican Republic.
Deysi's life narrative is a microhistory that sheds light on the intersection of gender, violence, and poverty under the Trujillo regime and in its wake. Her story recovers pieces of rural life, which has been disrupted, transformed, and made less visible by the neoliberal order. It emphasizes the significance of expanding the Trujillo regime archive to encompass a broader spectrum of perspectives and attract more scholarly attention to Petán Trujillo's legacies. Deysi's life story can provide meaningful lessons and insights for today in the realm of gendered violence and children's exploitation.
This book is intended as reading for sociology, gender and women's studies, history, Latin American politics, and Caribbean and Latin American Studies courses and for a general educated audience. The book intersects with topics that are widely covered in research in the humanities and social sciences and is appropriate for both advanced undergraduate and graduate courses. The book can appeal to human rights activists, novelists, and individuals and organizations interested in history, politics, authoritarian societies, and gendered violence.
Contents
1 Introduction: Gender and Violence: La Vida Trágica de una Niña
Tia Deysi
The Essential Perspective of Gender and Violence
Unveiling the Layers of Tia Deysi's Life Narrative
Historical Shifts and Trends
Self and Identity
Political Views and Ideologies
Memory and Inclusion
Tia Deysi, Petan: Dominican History and Memory
2 "Fate" and "Trauma": The Creation of a Life Story
Spawned from Herminia's Whim
The Curse
More Evidence
With Papa's Gun
Running Scared
Unfathomable: The Abandonment
Crushing Events
Bad Decision-Makers
Almost Raped
Moments of Joy
The Ultimate Betrayal of Trust
Author's Corner: Context and Interpretation
3 Echoes of Fate and Trauma: From Childhood to Adolescence
Work and Punishment and No Love
Sick and Slandered
Fear and Obedience
A Teacher Makes a Difference
Finding God and Safety
A Predator Father
First Love
Dangerous Beauty
"Sold" to Petan Trujillo
Learning to Please Petan
Author's Corner: Context and Interpretations
4 Being One of Petán's Women in Bonao
Power and Fear
Intimacy with Petan
Special Conversation
Beauty and Glamour
The Other Women
The End of the Affair
God and Survival
Leaving Bonao
Making Sense of the Petan Experience
Beaten Up
Saying Goodbye to Mercedita
March 2022: Returning to Bonao for the First Time Since 1960
Author's Corner: Context and Interpretations
5 The Warrior Mother: The Warrior Woman
Gualey 1961-1965
Love, Loss, Work, and Motherhood
The Greatest Joy
Herminia's Love
Motherhood, Marital Conflict, and Entrepreneurship
My Brother's Assassination
Life in Santiago: 1972-1977
A Hard Knock Life
Back in Capotillo: 1977-1983
Guaricano (1983): Divorce, New Beginnings, and New Challenges
Author's Corner: Context and Interpretations
6 Contemplations and Reckonings
The Filters of Age and Gender
Work, Sacrifice, and Pain
Looking Back: Tia Deysi's "Regrets"
Telling One's Life: Tia Deysi's Insight on her Life Narrative
7 Epilogue: Five Reflections
Gender and Violence: Bridging the Dominican Past and Present
Thinking Methods
Interviewing My Aunt
Dealing with Problems
Biases
Translation
Editing
The Formalities of the Interview and Publication Processes
On Power
Gender in Contemporary Dominican Society
"Foundations of Despotism"
Dominican Memory
Borron y Cuenta Nueva: A Closer Look
"Facilities of Memory" and Memory Work
Memory of the Martyrs of the Resistance
The Narrative of Redemption
Trujillo in Dominican Culture
The Trujillo Ven a Ver Discourse: Linking Dictator Trujillo with the Present
Corrective Impulses: "Laws of Memory"
