A Reading and Discussion

Jennine Capo Crucet wasn't the type of person I expected to meet at all. It just goes to show how greatly she creates a narrator that is so separated from the author, and how she makes her characters so powerfully complex. I think it's this complexity in emotions and decisions within the narratives that really made me think of the meanings lying beneath the surface. She pointed out that she makes sure to build her characters as the foundation for the story, instead of taking a principle or idea that she wants to express and then making a plot focused on just that.

This idea reminded me of our investigations of the culture of Miami, and how we are aiming to create theories based on the evidence in front of us, rather than taking sociological or anthropological principles and applying it to the city, finding bits and pieces of proof as support. Just like Barthes, we are starting with the material, the culture groups in Miami, the trends, the lifestyles, and the tensions in between in order to see what it is that makes the city different than all of the other major cities out there.

I also particularly enjoyed her touch on the subject of identity, and the paralysis of identity that comes with being a first generation American. Both of my parents came to America to start a family, and sometimes I wonder which country is my real home, or if it's possible to have two homes. I think Ms. Capo Crucet is a very inspiring writer, and I am very grateful to have met with and to have had the pleasure of hearing such a wonderful person.