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SN1106 Re-Mapping the Amexicano Border in Visual Culture
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SN1106 Re-Mapping the Amexicano Border in Visual Culture
SN1106 Re-Mapping the Amexicano Border in Visual Culture
Terms 1-2
Convenor: Dr Miriam Haddu
Other tutors: Anna Kingsley
Assessment:
Essay 1: 30%, 1,200 – 1,500 words; Essay 2: 60%, 1,500-2,000 words
Oral Presentation: 10%
Overview
This course is designed to expose students to a range of contemporary visual, cinematographic and literary representations of the U.S.-Mexico borderspace. Particular attention will be devoted to observing visions of two Mexican border cities, Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, through the mediums of art, photography, literature and film. Throughout this course, students will also gain an understanding of modern-day issues occurring in this border territory, notably the narco-wars, the Juárez femicides and the socio-economic impact of NAFTA. Alongside the set texts, students will be introduced to key spatial theories in order to understand the complex dynamics of a borderspace upon society and culture and will be encouraged to draw upon these theories and Mexican cultural concepts when analysing the texts.
Key Primary Bibliography/Filmography:
Set Texts:
Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera
Art/Photography:
Judithe Hernández: artwork (The Juárez Series)
Francisco Mata Rosas: photography
Set Filmic Texts:
Espaldas Mojadas, dir. Alejandro Galindo (1955)
Border Brujo, dir. Guillermo Gomez Peña (1988)
El Jardin del Edén, dir. María Novaro (1994)
Sleep Dealer, dir. Alex Rivera (2008)
El Traspatio, dir. Carlos Carrera (2009)
Miss Bala, dir. Gerardo Naranjo (2011)
Secondary Literature: General, Theoretical, Introductory
Bhabha, Homi, The Location of Culture (New York: Routledge, 2004)
Bowden, Charles, Murder City (New York: Nation Books, 2010)
Dehaene, Michiel, Heterotopia and the city: public space in a postcivil society (London; New York: Routledge, 2008)
Gaspar de Alba, Alicia, Making a Killing: Femicide, Free Trade, and La Frontera (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010)
Lefebvre, Henri, The Production of Space (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)
Lugo, Alejandro, Fragmented lives, assembled parts: culture, capitalism, and conquest at the U.S.-Mexico border (Austin: Texas University Press, 2008)
Soja, Edward, Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996)
Staudt, Kathleen, Monárrez Fragoso, Julia and Fuentes, César, Cities and Citizenship at the U.S.-Mexcio Border: The Paso del Norte Metropolitan Region (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
Vulliamy, Ed, Amexica: War Along the Borderline (London: Bodley Head, 2010)