Border Narratives in Latin America

This course considers the notion of borders and border-crossing in Latin America. The first part focusses on the discursive construction of the US-Mexico border, a space which is simultaneously liminal and central in the cultural imagination of the two nation states it separates. In the course of the term we will consider the treatment and conceptualisation of the US-Mexico border in a range of narratives, including fiction, film and travel writing. Issues to be discussed will include the trans-nationalisation of identity, questions of gender, location and hybridity.

The second part will focus on the filmic representation of border crossings in Spanish-language cinema from Latin America. We will consider the theme and narrative of border journeys in the burgeoning production of several recent ‘road’ or travel films. Generic and aesthetic characteristics of the road movie genre will be examined, as will their modification by filmmakers in their distinct regional and historical contexts.

Assessment: one 5,000 world course paper