“To choose is to go wrong”: The Representation of Borderland Identities: A Comparative Literary Analysis Diplomarbeit Zum Erlangen des akademischen Grades eines Magisters der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von David SCHNEEBACHER am Institut für Amerikanistik Begutachterin: Assoz. Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Ulla Kriebernegg Graz, 2021 Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung Ich erkläre ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version. Datum: Unterschrift: ......................................... .......................................... Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude towards a number of people, who have helped me extensively through my time as a student at the University of Graz, and my diploma thesis. First of all, I want to thank my mentor Dr. Ulla Kriebernegg for being so supportive before and during my quest of writing this paper. Her remarkable expertise in the field, as well as her positivity, despite her busy schedule have taught me a lot, and I will forever be grateful for her support. In addition, I want to thank my friends Red, Wolfi, Gernot, Bernd, Tauni, Matthias, and Thomas for their mental support through all these years, especially towards the end of my studies. Their infinitely positive attitude, as well as their unconditional friendship is unmatched, and will always stay with me. The biggest thank you however, is reserved for my family, especially my parents. I do not know where I would be today, without their unconditional love and support. They always stood by me and tried to provide advice, whenever I needed it. I also want to mention my sister Carmen, Andreas, Jakob, and Jonas, who have always stood by me and helped me forget about university in times, in which I desperately needed to take time out. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 2. About Guillermo Verdecchia ................................................................................... 4 3. Fronteras Americanas by Guillermo Verdecchia .................................................... 5 3.1. The Communication Model for Drama and Narratorial Mediation in Fronteras Americanas ............................................................................................................. 6 3.2. Character Analysis ......................................................................................... 14 3.2.1. Guillermo Verdecchia ............................................................................... 14 3.2.2. Wideload .................................................................................................. 16 3.2.3. Facundo ................................................................................................... 18 3.3. Postmodernist Features ................................................................................. 19 3.3.1. Act 1: “Latin Lovers” and “Dancing” .......................................................... 21 3.3.2. Act 2: Drug War Deconstruction ............................................................... 23 3.3.3. Act 1: Wideload’s Terms .......................................................................... 23 3.3.4. Act 2: “Latin Invasion”, “Consider” and “Going Forward” .......................... 24 3.4. The Representation of Time and Space ......................................................... 25 3.5. The Ambivalence in Verdecchia’s Humour ..................................................... 26 4. The History of Native Americans and the U.S.-Canadian Border ......................... 29 5. About Thomas King .............................................................................................. 31 6. Borders by Thomas King ...................................................................................... 33 6.1. The Form of the Short Story and the Positioning of Thomas King’s Borders as a Canadian Short Story ......................................................................................... 34 6.2. Character Analysis ......................................................................................... 37 6.2.1. The Young Boy, Son and Brother of Laetitia ............................................ 37 6.2.2. Laetitia ..................................................................................................... 39 6.2.3. The Mother ............................................................................................... 40 6.3. Narration and the Narrative Situation ............................................................. 42 6.4. The Communicative Situation ......................................................................... 43 6.5. The Representation of Time and Space ......................................................... 44 6.5.1. Coutts ....................................................................................................... 46 6.5.2. The Geography of the Border................................................................... 48 6.5.3. Crossing the Border ................................................................................. 49 6.6. Thomas King’s Utilisation of Humour ............................................................. 50 7. Overview of the Mexican-American War and the Establishment of the Mexican- American Border ....................................................................................................... 54 8. About Gloria Anzaldúa .......................................................................................... 55 9. To Live in the Borderlands Means You ................................................................. 56 9.1 Structure and Postmodernist Features ............................................................ 58 9.2. The Communication Model for Poetry and Postmodern Aspects in the Lyric Speech Situation ................................................................................................... 59 9.3. Themes and Motifs ......................................................................................... 60 9.4. The Representation of Time and Space ......................................................... 68 10. Comparative Analysis ......................................................................................... 70 10.1. Colonialism ................................................................................................... 72 10.2. Postcolonial Literature and the Characters in the Works of Verdecchia, King, and Anzaldúa ........................................................................................................ 73 11. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 75 17. Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 77 18. Table of Figures .................................................................................................. 80 1. Introduction The U.S.-Mexican border has been subject to conflicts over territorial claims, free trade, and migration for decades and centuries. The depiction of the disputes at the U.S.-Mexican border has been accompanied by extensive news coverage, and consequently, heated debates across the globe. Comparatively scarce attention has been paid to the northern border to Canada, which is often perceived as a testimony for the peaceful coexistence between two countries. I have always been intrigued by the concept of borders. When I was a child, I went to Italy for the first time, and I was fascinated by the notion that an invisible line marks the separation between two languages, two currencies (back then, Schilling and Lire), and two cultures. The fascination has remained. However, in the course of my studies I have learned that the term border exceeds the realm of physical location, and that borders are equally relevant in the fields of psychology and identity. The research question I am going to answer in my this thesis is: How is identity reflected in the three works I have chosen from Guillermo Verdecchia, Thomas King, and Gloria Anzaldúa by means of borders? To answer my research question, I am going to conduct a literary analysis of three forms of literature, namely drama, narrative fiction and poetry, written by three different authors with a cultural background characterised by displacement and the quest for finding one’s identity in the Americas. The thesis consists of four sections. In the first three sections, I am going to provide background information on the lives of the authors, as well as a plot overview. The literary analysis of the three works is going to include a chapter with the relevant literary theory to provide the reader with the necessary background knowledge required to follow the analysis. In addition, the first three sections will provide information on the communicative situation, the representation of time and space, a character analysis and the techniques the authors use to convey the underlying themes and motifs of the texts. 1 The first work I have