Migration and Intersectionality in El verbo J: A Conversation with Claudia Hernández

In this conversation with Salvadoran writer Claudia Hernández, Tania Pleitez Vela and Elena Ritondale discuss the relevance of generic conventions in depictions of migration, the challenges of representing violence, and the centrality of polyphony (and testimony) in migrant fiction. Touching upon Hernández’s impressive oeuvre, the interview focuses particularly on her novel El verbo J, which centers on the experiences of a transgender migrant—Jasmine—traveling from El Salvador to the United States in the late 1970s. Based on Hernández’s reflections about authorship and storytelling, the conversation highlights the writer’s intersectional approach to vulnerability and structures of marginalization and addresses the ways in which the polyphonic story of El verbo J foregrounds Jasmine’s agency, her ability to use kinship networks, be(come) part of a community, and, ultimately, to survive.