Central American Coastal Identity Multiple Faces of Mestizaje in Narrative by the Costa Rican novelist Anacristna Rossi

Abstract

The article discusses the cultural diversity of the Central American Caribbean region and examines the invisibility of the Central American minority populations, with particular attention to the Costa Rican Caribbean coast. The many different aspects of the minority communities are thoroughly portrayed in Anacristina Rossi’s latest novels Limón Blues (2002) and Limón Reggae (2007), which “exalt the multicultural and multiethnic nature of the Costa 66 Duncan, Quince, Contra el silencio: afro descendientes y racismo en el Caribe continental hispánico, 2011, p. 211. Central American Coasta Rican people” and examine cultural heritage and history.67 The discussion in this article focuses on these two novels and explores the complex issues of identity formation and how literature can function as a medium of expression in the fight against invisibility and exclusion.

Keywords: Literature, Costa Rica, Anacristina Rossi, multiculturalism, identity formation