Reading the news lately, Americans might forget that the U.S.-Mexico border is more than just a crossing point for illegal immigrants.
Yesterday, Professor Tey Diana Rebolledo, a Regents' Professor of Spanish at the University of New Mexico, came to Tufts to remind students that the border is also a place that represents the mixing of two distinct cultures.
The lecture itself also traversed the border of the English and Spanish languages, as Rebolledo spoke in both.
"On the one hand, some believe the border and the people who cross it daily are a problem," Rebolledo said. She said that some view the border as a destructive chaos which must be controlled.
"On the other hand, the border can be seen as an opportunity, a shared space in which divisions can be transcended," she continued. She expressed hope that the border could be viewed as a place where multiple identities and multiple perspectives could work together.
Rebolledo reminded students that the border must be questioned in its multiple aspects.
She questioned whether there was a border identity, and whether the border was really a dividing line or a space that does not separate. "The border is an invisible line that shifts according to the perspective by which it's viewed," she said.
Rebolledo explained that Chicano writers and artists have a very different perspective of the border than both Americans and Mexicans. "Chicanas are defined by the space in between," she said. "They are not Mexicans because they were not born in Mexico, and they also haven't been totally accepted by Americans."
The term "Chicano" originated in the 1930s when rural Mexicans were imported to the United States to provide cheap field labor. The term was originally considered insulting, but it is now adopted by many people of mixed Mexican and American descent to reflect their unique culture.
Rebolledo said that in order to understand life on the border, it is important to take into account the various perspectives held by different groups of people. However, due to the limited amount of time for her speech, Rebolledo chose to focus on the perspective of the Chicanos.
Rebolledo said that narratives written by Chicanos are positive accounts because the authors elected to stay in the United States. "In fact, Chicana narratives are often tales of growth, independence, and change," she said.
Rebolledo said that many Chicanas find it difficult to define a single identity. She related this to her own experience as a child. When people asked her "what she was," she said, she was never certain how to respond.
Rebolledo showed slides of various Chicano artists that portrayed the various immigrants' distinct identities. A painting titled "Who Wins This Game?" by Pola Lopez showed a tic-tac-toe board with each square filled by a different label of identity.
Certain labels were crossed out, such as "American," and "Minority-Other," while others, such as "Chicano," and "Mestizo" were circled.
Rebolledo said that this represented the artist's interpretation of what immigrants were and were not allowed to be.
Rebolledo then read excerpts from Chicano writers that also struggled with their identity. One writer wrote, "I live in the doorway between two rooms."
A painting entitled "The New Order" by Richard Duffy portrayed George Washington as a symbol of big tobacco in the United States. In the painting, George Washington presided over border control, representing the artist's views on America's motives in allowing immigration.
Rebolledo also addressed gender issues along the border. A life near or crossing the border, she said, makes women particularly vulnerable to violence and rape. Chicana art often reflects this vulnerability, as illustrated by portrayals of women as naked virgins crossing the Rio Grande River.
"For women, the border can embody both violence and power," Rebolledo said.
Rebolledo added that many Chicano writers emphasized that Chicanos need to stop being victims and need to implement change for themselves. As a result, modern Chicano art often portrays hope for the future by depicting images of places without borders.
Rebolledo said that through art, the border often unites what it was meant to separate. "To understand the border is to see it from many sides," she said.
The event was sponsored by various organizations including the Latino Studies Program, the Romance Language Department, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.
