City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2019 Transfigurations of the News: True Fictions, Strange Thresholds Jeffrey Peer The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3234 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] TRANSFIGURATIONS OF THE NEWS: TRUE FICTIONS, STRANGE THRESHOLDS by Jeffrey Peer A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Comparative Literature in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2019 © 2019 Jeffrey Robert Peer All Rights reserved ii Transfigurations of the News: True Fictions, Strange Thresholds by Jeffrey Peer This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Comparative Literature in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date John Brenkman Chair of Examining Committee Date Giancarlo Lombardi Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Paul Julian Smith Bettina Lerner Noël Carroll THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Transfigurations of the News: True Fictions, Strange Thresholds by Jeffrey Peer Advisor: John Brenkman Abstract: This dissertation compares twentieth-century literary journalism from the U.S. and Mexico, with a focus on the nonfiction novel and the Mexican chronicle. The dissertation considers the two genres both historically and theoretically, in order to distinguish the borders between literature and unscrupulous journalism.