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The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica | Introduction

Judith Ortiz Cofer first published "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica" in Americas Review in 1992. The poem later appeared in a collection of poems, short stories, and personal essays titled The Latin Deli. The collection received much critical acclaim. A reviewer in Booklist wrote that Ortiz Cofer's stories, essays, and poems are a "delicious smorgasbord of the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds recalled from a cross-cultural girlhood. Whether delineating the yearnings for an island homeland or the frustrations of a first-generation immigrant's struggles to grow up in 'el building' in a New Jersey barrio, Ortiz Cofer's work is rich in evocative detail and universal concerns." The poem "The Latin Deli" focuses on a place where Spanish immigrants meet to talk to each other in their native language and to buy food from their homelands. The deli, presided over by the owner, offers a respite from the culture clash they have experienced in America. As they walk down the aisles, reciting the names of Spanish food like poetry, they are able to hang on to the traditions of the past, in order to maintain a clear sense of their cultural heritage. Ortiz Cofer transfers her own experience as an immigrant to art and so establishes a link between herself and the deli owner. Ortiz Cofer suggests that through her poems and stories that center on the lives of Spanish immigrants, she, like the owner of the deli, offers comfort and a sense of identity to others who share her heritage.

The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica Summary

Title
The full title of the poem is ''The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica." "Ars Poetica’’ translates into ‘‘the art of poetry,’’ which is the title of a poetical treatise by the Roman poet Horace (65-8 B.C.) and of a poem by Archibald MacLeish (1926). In Ortiz Cofer's poem the ‘‘art of poetry’’ could be interpreted in different ways. The deli itself could be like a poem to the customers, as it provides them with meaning in their lives. Since the poem is the first piece of writing in The Latin Deli, Ortiz Cofer could also be suggesting that through her poems and stories that center on the lives of Spanish immigrants, she offers comfort and a sense of identity to others who share her heritage.

Lines 1-7
In these lines Ortiz Cofer introduces the poem's main character, whom she calls ‘‘the Patroness of Exiles’’—what Ortiz Cofer could also be considered through her art. She delays her subject until the seventh line, after she has given a partial description of the deli. First she describes the Formica counter on which sits an ''ancient register'' with a ''plastic Mother and Child magnetized to the top.’’ This mixture of imagery reflects the reality of life for the Spanish-speaking immigrants who come into the store. The cheap countertop, the ''ancient'' register, and the ''plastic'' Mother and Child magnet reflect the lower economic status of the neighborhood. The register and magnet, however, take on a double meaning. The customers of the deli come there to connect with their heritage, and so these objects would comfort them. The ''ancient'' register keeps them in touch with the past. When Ortiz Cofer capitalizes the words "mother" and "child," she suggests these figures represent Mary and Jesus. Thus the magnet symbolizes the customers' strong religious beliefs that they have carried with them to the United States. Since these beliefs often clashed with the more secular American culture, the magnet helps them reinforce their sense of identity. In lines 4-6, Ortiz Cofer describes the "heady" smells of dried codfish and green plantains—food that also... » Complete The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica Summary