Sirena Selena vestida de pena o el Caribe como travestí

Mayra Santos-Febres s first novel was received immediately upon publication as a crucial text within Puerto Rican literature. This novel can be read in a variety of ways: as a portrait of a marginalized section of the population; as a continuation of the literary tradition of the picaresca; as an example of Bildungsroman This essay suggests a reading of the novel as a postmodern allegory of the Caribbean. Under this light, the text could become a re-reading of Eugenio María de Hostos s La perigranaci n de Bayo n (1863). However, this is not an allegory in the classical sense, as is the case in Hostos s novel. Thus, to understand the text in allegorical terms, it needs to be interpreted as a representation of our history as it has been influenced by the phenomenon of tourism. This industry that feeds the country imposes a transvestism of sorts on its citizens. Touristic Caribbean is a transvestite. The novel is, then, not just an allegory of the Caribbean as a theme park for tourists but also a direct reflection of that industry