Roxana Rodríguez Ortiz

The idea behind the configuration of such a model based on comparative studies lies in the possibility of isolating a formal aesthetics in the border narratives (taking into account the discourses as well as narratives on the social and literary subjects) bringing to the front the ‘social imaginary’ of people on both sides of the border. From a cultural point of view and its relevant concepts (migration, minority, identity, representation, etc.), basing my research principally on power relationships (dominion and exclusion), other aspects of the relationship between borders subjects also come to light.

My research hypothesis consists of deconstructing the dichotomies which are integral to the concept of borders and which has inhibited research and solutions which could clarify the real needs of subjects who cohabitate border regions. I have placed an epistemological emphasis on the border relationship within/ and from the specific realities of the subjects living at borders.

In order to proceed I need to deconstruct five cultural phenomena (they are not exclusive) which are the result of a ‘premature normative state’. The term belongs to Seyla Benhabib and it is defined as ‘the expedited reiteration of group identities, the failure to question cultural identities and the omission of these in the historical and sociological literature dominated by the constructivist methodology’. This theme also applies to the conformation of the cultural identity of the subjects who inhabit the US-Mexican border. The cultural phenomena I am interested in analyzing consist of: 

1. the process of conformation of a cultural identity of the people who inhabit the border (Mexicans from the northern states; migrants; Chicanos; Mexican-Americans)
2. the way they represent themselves (particularly in literature)
3. the type of socio cultural and power relationships which they establish on both sides
4. the language they use in order to refer to themselves and the other
5. the conformation of sub cultures which are seen on the political borders (for example, on the US Mexican border we can distinguish a maquila subculture).

Taking into account these elements I have divided this paper into three parts: the first is about the socio cultural relationships and power relations, which are established at the border. The second deals with the self representation, in the literature, of the border inhabitants. The third deals with de-constructing the interdiction of language at the border, not only based on literature but also on the cultural identity of the border subjects.

¿How does the process of becoming a border subject imprint itself in the creation of a literary subject? Etymologically the word ‘subject’ comes from subjectus (subjicere) which implies submission, subordination, and subjection; a subject then responds to the authority of the one who names him as such and his actions implicate subordination. Nonetheless this definition of a subject is lacking since, as seen in the actions of the Mexican-Americans, subordination is a process or state which can be reversed. The Mexican American subject is aware of his subordinate role vis à vis the American community and the pressure it exerts on him to acculturate; but he also fights it through different processes of integration-adaptation which include the juxtaposition of two cultures (the Mexican and the American). The same happens with trans-border subjects: they are part of a Mexican culture but as border citizens of a border region they are subjects that must also create for themselves another culture or subculture. The border subject moves in the realm of the power that subordinates him and allows him in return certain margins for actions and autonomy in order to construct a conscious ‘functional dependency’ to that power. This was prevalent in the passive resistance which the Mexican migrants exhibited towards the American community during the middle of the past century. This changed when the Chicano Movement came into force and the Mexican American community gained presence and influenced political decisions. Today this type of subordination has been reverted and the Mexican American community is empowered and has become a true political force.

CÓMO CITAR:

Rodríguez. R. 2012. Re-imaging the concept of border”. In David Gallagher (comp..). Creoles, Diasporas and Cosmopolitianisms: The Creolization of Nations, Cultural Migrations, Global Languages and Literatures. Academica press, pp. 239-254.