The US-Mexico Border as Contested Space: Film and Popular Culture, 1990 to the Present
In the 1990s, the border regions of the USA and Mexico became a prime field of reference in literary and cultural studies that investigated themes such as global migration, globalization, multiple identities and different forms of cultural 'mixing'. Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera, for example, directs attention to the far-reaching effects the border has had on the population of the region, not just in terms of a national border but also as a symbolic site that signifies in terms of gender and sexual differences as well as racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. More recently, however, the study of the US-Mexico border region has shifted its focus away from questions of cultural mixing towards questions of security, violence and nationalism. This shift of scholarly interest has been caused by the post-9/11 attempts of "protecting the nation". Anti-immigration sentiments have brought about a renewed scholarly interest in the border. I aim at exploring the cultural production since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force in 1994. The research will juxtapose different positions as expressed symbolically in film and popular culture, and will outline patterns of political polarization in the region. While in the 1990s cultural mixing and exchange characterized much artistic work on the borderlands, my hypothesis is that in more recent times surveillance and sealing-off have successively become more powerful patterns of representation and themes.
Final report
During my research stay as visiting scholar at the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) I concentrated on
(1) library research
(2) exchanges with experts at UCSD and other institutions in the region
(3) field work along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly in California, Arizona and Brownsville (TX).
The library at UCSD holds special archives of border art. I found valuable material that I use in my monograph on border aesthetics. I interviewed artists and scholars at UCSD and other places in the region. I published an interview with the performance artist Ricardo Dominguez (UCSD) and used the material in further publications and lectures. My field work along the border was immensely productive. The material will be analyzed in my monograph. I presented my findings at conferences and invited talks (e.g. keynote, Karlstad University). My work in the library was also extremely helpful for finalizing my chapters on boundary discourse in the 18th and early 19th century and the chapters on journeys to Mexico and Latin America (monograph currently under review).
During my research stay at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, I gave a talk on “Borders: Comparative Perspectives, Germany, USA, Mexico.” At the University of Texas, particularly the research at the Border Archive was very valuable. I had a fruitful exchanges with specialists at the department of cultural anthropology and philosophy.
After my return, I organized an international conference at Uppsala University (January 2020) where I presented my research:
International conference: Migration and Contemporary Border Regimes: Sovereignty, Surveillance, Survival. Uppsala University, January 23-24, 2020
After my return from UCSD I contributed to several conferences and I lectured on my research in Sweden and abroad:
“Visibility and Invisibility in US-Mexico Border Art: Guillermo Galindo and Alejandro González Iñárritu.” B/Ordering Cultures, International Conference, Viadrina University Frankfurt/Oder, October 7-10, 2020
“Border Aesthetics: Sovereignty, Surveillance, and Survival at the US-Mexico Divide”, keynote lecture, international conference The Uses of Aesthetics, Karlstad University, September 12-14, 2019.
“Contemporary Art in the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands.” University of Tübingen, January 2019.
“Border Art.” Conference of the Swedish Association of American Studies, University of Stockholm, September 2018
“Border and Spaces of Privilege.” Border Studies Group, University of Stockholm.
“The Presidential Election 2018 in Mexico: Cultural Dimensions,” Institute for Latin American Studies, University of Stockholm.
“Minor Mobility: Child Migration and the US-Mexico Divide,” University of Potsdam (Germany), July 2018
“Mobility Welcome?: Art and Recreation Zones at the US-Mexico Border.” Workshop: Minor Mobilities in American Literature and Culture. University of Vienna. July 2018.
“Borders: Comparative Perspectives, Germany, USA, Mexico.” University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. January 2018.
The following publications are based on research I did during my RJ sabbatical:
Heide, Markus. “Learning from Las Vegas”: Border Aesthetics, Disturbance, and Electronic Disobedience. An Interview with Performance Artist Ricardo Dominguez, Journal of Borderlands Studies, Routledge DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2018.1490197 . 2018.
Heide, Markus. “The Poetry of Tino Villanueva: Texas, the Chicano Movement, Memory and Ekphrasis.” Comparative American Studies: An International Journal 15 (2017): 91-98.
Heide, Markus. “The Idea of the Western Hemisphere: Imperial Knowledge Production on the Americas in Travel Writing of the Early Nineteenth Century.” Cultural Mobility and Knowledge Formation in the Americas. Eds. Volker Depkat and Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson. Heidelberg: Winter, 2019. 31-50.
Heide, Markus. “Populism and the Politics of the Media Spectacle in the US: The Imagery of the US-Mexico Border”. Populism, Democracy, and the Humanities. Interdisciplinary Explorations and Critical Inquiries. Eds. Iulian Cananau and Peder Thalén. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Under review.
Heide, Markus. “Tino Villanueva“. Latino Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students. Eds. Christina Soto van der Plas and Lacie Rae Buckwalter Cunningham. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Forthcoming 2022.
(1) library research
(2) exchanges with experts at UCSD and other institutions in the region
(3) field work along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly in California, Arizona and Brownsville (TX).
The library at UCSD holds special archives of border art. I found valuable material that I use in my monograph on border aesthetics. I interviewed artists and scholars at UCSD and other places in the region. I published an interview with the performance artist Ricardo Dominguez (UCSD) and used the material in further publications and lectures. My field work along the border was immensely productive. The material will be analyzed in my monograph. I presented my findings at conferences and invited talks (e.g. keynote, Karlstad University). My work in the library was also extremely helpful for finalizing my chapters on boundary discourse in the 18th and early 19th century and the chapters on journeys to Mexico and Latin America (monograph currently under review).
During my research stay at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, I gave a talk on “Borders: Comparative Perspectives, Germany, USA, Mexico.” At the University of Texas, particularly the research at the Border Archive was very valuable. I had a fruitful exchanges with specialists at the department of cultural anthropology and philosophy.
After my return, I organized an international conference at Uppsala University (January 2020) where I presented my research:
International conference: Migration and Contemporary Border Regimes: Sovereignty, Surveillance, Survival. Uppsala University, January 23-24, 2020
After my return from UCSD I contributed to several conferences and I lectured on my research in Sweden and abroad:
“Visibility and Invisibility in US-Mexico Border Art: Guillermo Galindo and Alejandro González Iñárritu.” B/Ordering Cultures, International Conference, Viadrina University Frankfurt/Oder, October 7-10, 2020
“Border Aesthetics: Sovereignty, Surveillance, and Survival at the US-Mexico Divide”, keynote lecture, international conference The Uses of Aesthetics, Karlstad University, September 12-14, 2019.
“Contemporary Art in the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands.” University of Tübingen, January 2019.
“Border Art.” Conference of the Swedish Association of American Studies, University of Stockholm, September 2018
“Border and Spaces of Privilege.” Border Studies Group, University of Stockholm.
“The Presidential Election 2018 in Mexico: Cultural Dimensions,” Institute for Latin American Studies, University of Stockholm.
“Minor Mobility: Child Migration and the US-Mexico Divide,” University of Potsdam (Germany), July 2018
“Mobility Welcome?: Art and Recreation Zones at the US-Mexico Border.” Workshop: Minor Mobilities in American Literature and Culture. University of Vienna. July 2018.
“Borders: Comparative Perspectives, Germany, USA, Mexico.” University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. January 2018.
The following publications are based on research I did during my RJ sabbatical:
Heide, Markus. “Learning from Las Vegas”: Border Aesthetics, Disturbance, and Electronic Disobedience. An Interview with Performance Artist Ricardo Dominguez, Journal of Borderlands Studies, Routledge DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2018.1490197 . 2018.
Heide, Markus. “The Poetry of Tino Villanueva: Texas, the Chicano Movement, Memory and Ekphrasis.” Comparative American Studies: An International Journal 15 (2017): 91-98.
Heide, Markus. “The Idea of the Western Hemisphere: Imperial Knowledge Production on the Americas in Travel Writing of the Early Nineteenth Century.” Cultural Mobility and Knowledge Formation in the Americas. Eds. Volker Depkat and Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson. Heidelberg: Winter, 2019. 31-50.
Heide, Markus. “Populism and the Politics of the Media Spectacle in the US: The Imagery of the US-Mexico Border”. Populism, Democracy, and the Humanities. Interdisciplinary Explorations and Critical Inquiries. Eds. Iulian Cananau and Peder Thalén. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Under review.
Heide, Markus. “Tino Villanueva“. Latino Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students. Eds. Christina Soto van der Plas and Lacie Rae Buckwalter Cunningham. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Forthcoming 2022.