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The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics

ISSN: 2472-7318

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Sounding out a rhetoric of resiLience: curating plena in diasporican activism

by Karrieann Soto Vega, University of Kentucky

Abstract

The following piece is a creative-critical, multimodal curation of scenes wherein plena sounds out a rhetoric of Puerto Rican resilience and DiaspoRican activism. Often described as the newspapers of the people or sung newspapers, plena songs provide narratives of Puerto Rican life, struggles, and resistance. Curating plena’s progression throughout the last century, including its role in DiaspoRican activism, and up to the 2019 summer protests in Puerto Rico, I demonstrate how plena sounds out a rhetoric of resilience. As a multimodal pedagogical contribution, this piece demonstrates the significance of sonic experiences that attend to geopolitical location and identity, while historicizing Puerto Rican cultural rhetorics and activism.

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