Prof. Taryne Taylor's Review of Sordidez published in LA Review of Books
Congratulations to Professor Taryne Taylor on publishing a review of the newly released Taínofuturist novella Sordidez in Los Angeles Review of Books.
Taylor's review is titled "Taínofuturism, Hope for a Better Future: On E.G. Condé’s Sordidez."
An excerpt:
In Sordidez, Condé weaves a decolonial narrative that offers hope for a better future, free from the ravages of empire, even as the novella bears witness to the historical horrors wrought by US imperialism. The novel begins in future Borikén (Puerto Rico) as Condé’s transgender narrator, Vero, relates his experience of the climate apocalypse caused by Hurricane Teddy, which decimated the island and ended the US occupation there. After the hurricane, the US sells Puerto Rico (PR) to China as a penalty for unpaid climate loans. Despite the climate apocalypse, the impact of COVID-19, and a second pandemic virus (called the Androvirus), empire and capitalism reign supreme. The novel focuses on two countries in peril from climate disaster and despotic regimes, Puerto Rico and Mexico, in order to show how they remain subject to imperial influences and control. As the world is being destroyed by the Sino-American cold war, imperial powers aim to acquire territory and resources, subjugating other peoples and places despite facing climate apocalypse. [ . . . ]