Mapping borderlands horror: Tales in terror, trauma, and Latinx immigrant experiences in recent fiction

Author

Cynthia Saldivar, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Date of Award

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)

Department

Mexican American Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Cathryn Merla-Watson

Second Advisor

Dr. Amy Cummins

Third Advisor

Dr. Marci R. McMahon

Abstract

This thesis explores how Chicana/o cultural producers redeploy conventions of horror in order to explore the lived experiences of Latinx, particularly in South Texas. To do so, I will examine texts such as Sandra Cisneros's classic 1992 short story "Woman Hollering Creek," Terri de la Peña’s 1996 short story “Refugio” and Christopher Carmona's award-winning 2015 short story "Strange Leaves" and Josefina Lopez’s 2011 play “Detained in the Desert” through the lens of domestic horror. This thesis will demonstrate how the horrific is "differential," that is, how what we consider horrific is thoroughly racialized, gendered, classed, and sexualized. The thesis will illustrate how Chican@ fiction challenges the dominant narrative and redeploys horror as a tool for collective action against the systematic oppression of immigrants. More specifically, I will show how these corpus lends insight into the affective--and horrific--experience of gendered oppression.

Comments

Copyright 2016 Cynthia Saldivar. All Rights Reserved.

https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/mapping-borderlands-horror-tales-terror-trauma/docview/1810996034/se-2?accountid=7119

Recommended Citation

Saldivar, Cynthia, "Mapping borderlands horror: Tales in terror, trauma, and Latinx immigrant experiences in recent fiction" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 86.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/86