Truth and Fiction: The Disputed Authorship of the Memoirs of Bernardo Vega

The Memoirs of Bernardo Vega detail the early 20th century immigrant experience of Bernardo Vega, a cigar-maker who immigrated to New York in 1916 and was an eyewitness to the rise of the socialist and labor movements of the era. Although cigar making might seem like a blue-collar occupation, at the time it was considered an art within the Puerto Rican community and the pride of Vega's life. Vega also worked as an editor, bookkeeper, and in other white collar occupations and was an influential intellectual amongst his people throughout the duration of his life. In many ways, Vega's life and career challenge the traditional white-collar/blue-collar divide even though he was very active in the union movement.

Cigar rollers were traditionally read to as a way of passing the time and Vega is recorded as substantially adding to his wealth of knowledge by listening to the various texts read to him. This formed a significant chapter in his intellectual development as a radical and as a prominent thinker. The book is presents itself as less of a personal memoir than as a chronicle of the Puerto Rican community during that era. Like many immigrants, Vega is portrayed as coming to America with a very idealistic view of the possibilities inherent in the new world. Gradually over time he becomes radicalized, particularly in the context...

The America of the book is very clearly a mosaic both of ethnicity and social class versus the melting pot experience of so many other immigrant groups.
The authorship of the memoirs has been contentious for a long time. "We do not know whether the novel accurately reflects the ideas and words of Vega himself or Cesar Andreu Iglesias, the self-appointed editor of the original manuscript. The genesis of the Memorias is cloaked in mystery" (Kevane). This has caused critics such as Bridget Kevane to question the stated authenticity of the manuscript as a real presentation of Vega's life. Vega in her view is used more as a lens upon the wider community; the book is clearly not a memoir of self-exploration in the traditional sense. Psychology on a personal level is less important than narrating a collective history and giving a picture of an era. Affirming the existence of Puerto Rican history becomes a vital component of affirming the contribution the community has made to shaping America. Vega is like a droplet of water standing in for the larger ocean of Puerto Rican experience and rather than an extraordinary man (although he did many extraordinary things), it is the ordinary aspects of his existence which make him equally as interesting.

Kevane also suggests that Iglesias' role as an editor is far more heavy-handed than might be suggested by the title and…