3 research outputs found
Redrawing the Boundary: From Carlos Fuentesâs La frontera de cristal (1995) to Rosaura SĂĄnchez and Beatrice Pitaâs Lunar Braceros 2125-2148 (2009)*
This article traces the workings of the border in Carlos Fuentesâ La frontera de cristal, Alejandro Moralesâ The Rag Doll Plagues, Alex Riveraâs film Sleep Dealer, and Rosaura SĂĄnchez and Beatrice Pitaâs Lunar Braceros 2125-2140. All the narratives can be considered borderland texts that illustrate the dialogue between literature and issues such as globalization, technology and colonial relations of power. While the border is still a place of detention and interdiction in Fuentesâ novel, it mutates into virtual crossings in The Rag Doll Plagues and Sleep Dealer, to return to barbed wire in SĂĄnchez and Pitaâs novella. From the logic of the border as a mechanism that may open or close, the article moves on to address the liminal situation of those who, although situated within the new versions of the nation-state, are considered permanent outsiders. This redrawing of boundaries allows us to revisit traditional categories of distinction such as the inside and the outside, and is evidence of the way colonial models of subjugation boomerang to the present
Trespassing Physical Boundaries: Transgression, Vulnerability and Resistance in Sarah Kaneâs \u3cem\u3eBlasted\u3c/em\u3e (1995)
Sarah Kaneâs Blasted has been analyzed from various perspectives that address the layers of destruction it exposes. From the questioning of its title and meaning, to the unravelling of the protagonistsâ abusive relationship, the analyses have emphasized the depiction of vulnerability as the defining human trait that Jean Ganteau observes in contemporary British literature. However, a key aspect has been overlooked in the critical response to the play: for Kane vulnerability does not equal helplessness, but rather stands in opposition to it. Hence, this article concentrates on how Blasted formulates a new understanding of vulnerability that fits Judith Butlerâs later redefinition of such notion as a trigger for resistance. It argues that, facing gender-based trauma, Kane dismantles the conditions that allow for a patronizing configuration of vulnerability in space by relocating the victim to an actual battlefield. Following Sarah Brackeâs conception of governmental security as resilient, the article explores Kaneâs multisided articulations of violence, vulnerability and trauma. It traces human relations as well as the literal rupture of space. From the hostile environment of a warzone, the notions of victimhood and fragility become rearticulated to undertake the responsibility of survival, questioning our passivity and ethical duties towards Others