Cuentos Combativos: Decolonialities in Puerto Rican Books About María

Abstract

Guided by theories of racialization and through a decolonial analysis, we share findings on the examination of four children’s books written in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane María. In engaging with these books, we situate our work in communal and research activist practices that foreground Puerto Ricans’ hidden stories and knowledges. Our initial analysis focuses on mapping the complex and contradictory constructions of diverse sociopolitical perspectives within a Puerto Rican imaginary around Hurricane María, communal and historical agency, and emerging resistance as decolonial literary acts. We then provide a more in-depth analysis of two texts, exploring the themes of estamos bien, delinking, one story/one people, and acción social. Findings highlight the need to engage with ruptures created by texts within decolonial imaginative spaces to improve literacy instruction.