Includes bibliographical references.

BORDER(LANDS) AND BORDER WRITING: INTRODUCTORY ESSAY / Jesús Benito and Ana María Manzanas -- HARRIET E. WILSON’S OUR NIG: AN IDIOSYNCRATIC ATTEMPT TO LOCATE THE COLOR LINE IN TERMS OF CLASS, GENDER AND GEOGRAPHY / Aitor Ibarrola-Armendariz -- REALITY AND DISCOURSE IN TONI MORRISON’S TRILOGY: TESTING THE LIMITS / Justine Tally -- THE BORDER PARADIGM IN CORMAC MCCARTHY’S THE CROSSING / Isabel Soto -- AN INTERPRETIVE ASSESSMENT OF CHICANO LITERATURE AND CRITICISM / Francisco A. Lomelí -- “THE CARIBOO CAFE” AS A BORDER TEXT: THE HOLOGRAPHIC MODEL / Begoña Simal -- SHIFTING BORDERS AND INTERSECTING TERRITORIES: RUDOLFO ANAYA / Carmen Flys Junquera -- LEARNING FROM FOSSILS: TRANSCULTURAL SPACE IN LUIS ALBERTO URREA’S IN SEARCH OF SNOW / Markus Heide -- LANGUAGE AND MALE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN THE CULTURAL BORDERLANDS: RICHARD RODRIGUEZ’S HUNGER OF MEMORY / Eduardo De Gregorio -- M/OTHER TONGUES IN BORDERLANDS IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE IN ENGLISH / M.S. Suárez Lafuente -- THE BORDERS OF THE SELF: IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY IN LOUISE ERDRICH’S LOVE MEDICINE AND PAULE MARSHALL’S PRAISESONG FOR THE WIDOW / Maria Del Mar Gallego -- A TWO-HEADED FREAK AND A BAD WIFE SEARCH FOR HOME: BORDER CROSSING IN NISEI DAUGHTER AND THE MIXQUIAHUALA LETTERS / Janet Cooper -- INSIDERS/OUTSIDERS: FINDING ONE’S SELF IN THE CULTURAL BORDERLANDS / Chrissi Harris.

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This volume stems from the idea that the notion of borders and borderlines as clear-cut frontiers separating not only political and geographical areas, but also cultural, linguistic and semiotic spaces, does not fully address the complexity of contemporary cultural encounters. Centering on a whole range of literary works from the United States and the Caribbean, the contributors suggest and discuss different theoretical and methodological grounds to address the literary production taking place across the lines in North American and Caribbean culture. The volume represents a pioneering attempt at proposing the concept of the border as a useful paradigm not only for the study of Chicano literature but also for the other American literatures. The works presented in the volume illustrate various aspects and manifestations of the textual border(lands), and explore the double-voiced discourse of border texts by writers like Harriet E. Wilson, Rudolfo Anaya, Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Louise Erdrich, Helena Viramontes, Paule Marshall and Monica Sone, among others. This book is of interest for scholars and researchers in the field of comparative American studies and ethnic studies.