Unbinding Latinidad: Book History and the Horizon of Publishable Latinidad

Abstract

Latinx literature has existed in U.S. territories since the early 16th century but has only received national attention and canonical inclusion as an essential American literary tradition since the late 20th century. The curation of Latinx canon has sparked debate over the periodization and ideological orientation of Latinx literary productions, as scholars continue to debut previously undiscovered texts alongside, and within the contexts of, new literary work. I argue that all Latinx literary texts are produced within the limits of the “horizon of publishable Latinidad,” or the range of what it is thinkable for Latinx authors to compose, publish, market, and circulate within a given historical period. What is thinkable for trade publishers to print and for national audiences to purchase therefore influences what it is thinkable for Latinx authors to write; this correlates with preexisting genres, tropes, and themes, or otherwise confirms existing “knowledge” about Latinx subjectivity. Groundbreaking Latinx literary works often reach national audiences not through the circulatory networks of trade publishers, but through archival recovery and independent publishing. Combining book historical approaches with archival research, I suggest that such “texts of survivance” widen the horizon of publishable Latinidad both formally and thematically. Texts of survivance complicate the history of the Latinx literary tradition, however, as these works are often periodized as influential precursors to, and not unwitting contemporaries of, modern Latinx authors.