The Modern Language Association of America announced that Jon D. Rossini, professor of theatre and dance at the University of California, Davis, received an honorable mention in the category Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies for his book, Pragmatic Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic Drama.

The committee’s citation for Rossini’s book reads:
In Pragmatic Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic Drama, Jon D. Rossini approaches Puerto Rican dramatic storytelling as a rich source of nuanced thinking about political transformation. Rossini’s book is an informative and elegant account of how Puerto Rican theater grapples with the dilemmas of revolutionary activism. Rossini introduces readers to canonical and contemporary playwrights whose works move beyond the binary of programmatic versus escapist aesthetics. Rossini shows how Puerto Rican playwrights build on the lived experiences of colonialism to shape their imagination of an alternative future. Expansive in its thinking and grounded in the history and craft of Latinx theater, the book makes a sharp case for scripted theater’s unique transformational capacities.

The Modern Language Association of America and its over 20,000 members in 100 countries work to strengthen the study and teaching of languages and literature. Founded in 1883, the MLA provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. The MLA sustains one of the finest publication programs in the humanities, producing a variety of publications for language and literature professionals and for the general public. The association publishes the MLA International Bibliography, the only comprehensive bibliography in language and literature, available online. The MLA Annual Convention features nearly 700 scholarly and professional development sessions. More information on MLA programs is available at www.mla.org.