Book review: Puerto Rico: Historia de una nación

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, Puerto Rico: Historia de una nación (Ciudad de México, MX: Editorial Planeta, 2024), $19.95. ISBN 978-6073909105

Puerto Rico: Historia de una nación by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo takes readers on an extensive journey through the historical events of Puerto Rico. It offers a detailed, in-depth, and complex account of the formation of Puerto Rican identity. Meléndez-Badillo presents a work focused on social and political history, approaching the history of Puerto Rico with a critical perspective that challenges traditional and Eurocentric narratives.

From the outset, the author makes clear his commitment to a historiography that not only narrates events but also analyzes power structures and popular resistance. His approach is notable for giving voice to marginalized groups and exploring how the working class, women, and Afro-descendants contributed to the formation of Puerto Rican nationhood. This inclusive perspective is one of the book’s strongest points, providing a richer and more diverse understanding of Puerto Rican history. However, the author’s dense and deep analysis of historical details may be challenging for those unfamiliar with Puerto Rican history.

The book offers a wealth of details right from the beginning. As a starting point, the author explores the indigenous cultures that inhabited the island before European arrival. Meléndez-Badillo delves into the world of the Taíno people, describing their social, economic, and spiritual systems with a level of detail that reflects an appreciation for the complexity of these cultures. However, given that this is a recent book, I feel it could benefit from including more recent archaeological and anthropological research, which could further enrich the understanding of these pre-colonial societies.

One of the most notable aspects of the book is how the author places Puerto Rican history within a global framework. By situating the island in the context of European colonial expansion and the dynamics of global capitalism, Meléndez-Badillo offers a perspective that highlights the interdependence between the local and the global. This is particularly relevant in his analysis of plantation economies and the impact of colonial policies on Puerto Rican society.

The author’s detailed examination of resistance movements and the fight for independence also stands out. He outlines how the island transformed under colonial rule, including economic exploitation, the imposition of Catholicism, and social and economic changes throughout the 20th century. His narrative is powerful and moving, capturing the resilience and resistance of Puerto Ricans in the face of oppression. Through his investigative narrative, Meléndez-Badillo documents various forms of resistance that emerged in response to colonial oppression, from slave rebellions to 20th-century nationalist movements. Given his family’s own experience with mass migration to the United States in the early 20th century, Meléndez also highlights how these events affected Puerto Rico’s social structure and how new power dynamics and resistance movements emerged.

The relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States is also an important aspect of Puerto Rican history. One of the book's strengths is that it does not confine itself to a binary narrative of oppressor and oppressed. Instead, Meléndez-Badillo explores the complexities of this relationship, including power dynamics, identity negotiations, and the contradictions inherent in colonial conditions. His analysis of the post-1898 period, following the U.S. invasion, is particularly detailed and enlightening, covering events such as the imposition of U.S. citizenship in 1917 and the creation of the Commonwealth in 1952.

While the author’s inclusive approach is commendable, at times the narrative may feel fragmented due to the large number of perspectives and voices incorporated. While this reflects the complexity of Puerto Rican history, it can also make it difficult to maintain a cohesive narrative. Nonetheless, it is precisely in this inclusive approach that we see a central axis of decolonial thought. Meléndez-Badillo gives voice and value to those historically silenced or marginalized by colonialism. Unlike other books or historical accounts, where the protagonists are the conquerors, here the focus shifts to the experiences of workers, women, Afro-descendants, and other groups relegated to the margins of Puerto Rican history.

Meléndez-Badillo recognizes and legitimizes the ways in which Puerto Ricans have fought against oppression and for self-determination. He presents the idea that Puerto Rican history is not merely one of passive domination, but rather one of resistance, cultural mixing, and the struggle for autonomy. He reinterprets Puerto Rican nationhood not as a result of colonial imposition, but as an outcome of resistance and cultural fusion.

Puerto Rico: Historia de una nación is, in my opinion, a profoundly significant contribution to Puerto Rican historiography that challenges long-held narratives shaped by lenses detached from the true Puerto Rican experience, providing a more nuanced and multidimensional view of our history. Meléndez-Badillo not only seeks to inform but also invites us to reimagine the concept of "discovery" as it relates to Puerto Rico. He highlights how, by 1493, Puerto Rico was already home to developed social systems created by its indigenous inhabitants, countering the traditional narrative of the island's "discovery."

In the end, Meléndez-Badillo’s text is an invitation to reflect on the complexities of Puerto Rican identity and history. It is simultaneously an invitation to reexamine our traditional and colonial understanding of the past, so that we may critically engage with our present and develop a vision for the future as what we truly are: a nation—Puerto Rico.