Introduction: New York as an Iberian City

Summary

New York, a city with a deep and dynamic history as a long-time receiver of individuals looking for a temporary or permanent home, has appeared in the work of writers from the Iberian Peninsula for more than a century. The city has not only been a place to write about but, as this book explores, it has been a way for Iberian authors to write in English, Spanish, and Catalan. Translating New York examines writers who have indulged in the fascination of New York for varying reasons and explores how the city shaped their careers, language, and literature. This book was born of the desire to diversify ongoing discussions about Iberian writers and the city, and it is thus a hybrid project that explores literature in three different languages, uses translation as an analytical tool, and reaches a site beyond the geographical borders of the Iberian Peninsula, while at the same time exploring how a city can be represented in literature beyond descriptive passages.

New York Moments

To set the stage for the discussion on New York in which this book engages, it is essential to first map out New York's position within the Iberian and Latin American worlds. There is no doubt that New York is a Spanish-speaking city: almost every variation of the language along with its particular New York offspring can be heard somewhere on its streets. It is, however, not as widely recognized that this language has been spoken in the city since the mid-seventeenth century. Since then, Spanish has become a language of commerce, religion, politics, art, literature, and community, boosting New York's position as a financial and cultural capital. Like the presence of Spanish itself in New York, the history of literary production in the Spanish language in or about the city—by visitors, immigrants, or other temporary, permanent, or imaginary residents—is long and diverse.