| Kommentar |
Border Studies, in the US context, came about as an academic field in the 1980s. In its earliest and most limited sense it refers to the study of culture and society along the US-Mexico border. However, the imaginary and theoretical implications of the border, e.g. as a site of exchange, exclusion, inclusion and protection, reach far beyond the study of the US-Mexico borderlands. More recent scholarship in Border Studies includes topics such as the following: sexual, gender, ethnic, racial distinctions and their social and symbolic constructions. Theoretical issue such as transgression, transnationalism, border regimes and cultural citizenship have been discussed as part of Border Studies. Certainly the history and mythology of the Frontier – important issues of American Studies – must be reassessed within the critical study of border regimes. The reading will include historiography, cultural theory, gender studies, fiction and visual texts. A major focus will be on Mexican-American cultural production. In preparation for the seminar please watch Babel (2006, dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu). The seminar will cooperate with Prof. Dr. Claudia Bruns (Kulturwissenschaft): VL: Karten, Körper, Kollektive: Europas Grenzdiskurse seit der Antike im transnationalen Vergleich (Mi, 18-20 Uhr, DOR 26, HS 208). |
