The Enkidu Summer Conference 2008: Storytelling, Memories and Identity Constructions

México City, 3 - 7 July, 2008

Chronicling the Border: Chicano advocacy in a Mexican genre in Across the Wire

Ruth Brown

Department of Hispanic Studies

University of Kentucky

Estados Unidos

Drawing on the tradition of the contemporary Mexican chronicle, Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (1993) by Luis Alberto Urrea serves as testimony to the lives of those impacted by the forces of globalization. This Chicano author, writing in English to an American audience, assumes the style of social commentary embraced by Mexican authors such as Carlos Monsiváis and Elena Poniatowska to give voice to the experiences of those living in Tijuana’s most destitute colonias during the 1980s and early 90s.

A journalistic account infused with literary device and imagery, Across the Wire gives agency to those living in the peripheral spaces that have been created by globalization and its subsequent displacement of the poor and marginalized. In Urrea’s telling, Tijuana becomes a space of constant social and linguistic negotiation; his interpretation of border culture reveals the complexity of this liminal space and shows how deeply its roots run in both Mexican and United States culture. Reading this work as a chronicle places it within the context of contemporary Mexican cultural production and transforms it into an act of advocacy on behalf of those who have been marginalized by the economic forces of globalization. 

This paper argues for the inclusion of Urrea’s work in the body of cultural discourse on the affects of globalization in Mexico by demonstrating its links to both the chronicle genre and contemporary Mexican scholarship on globalization. To accomplish this goal, this paper first presents a close reading of the work for the purpose of placing it within the genre of the chronicle, exploring its use of literary devices to evoke a message of advocacy. Secondly, this paper links Across the Wire to the socially critical works of other contemporary Mexican chroniclers, in particular that of Carlos Monsiváis, in order to show how it participates in a transnational dialogue about the impact of globalization on contemporary Mexican society.

About Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown is a PhD candidate and teaching assistant in Hispanic Studies at the University of Kentucky. Her research focus is cultural production, primarily literature, film, and essay, related to Mexican migration to the United States. Through her work with migrant farmworkers, Ruth has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and along the border, gathering experiences and stories that she applies to her academic study. These experiences have informed her academic study and teaching philosophy, resulting in a commitment to social advocacy and the creation of a tangible connection between the academic world and the lives of Mexican migrants in the US.