Blog Prompts for Transnationalism Course
Posts by Group B due on September 30
Comments by Group C due on October 1
Choose one of the following options:
1) How does Anzaldúa’s formal aesthetic project (e.g. the text’s use of language, the way it juxtaposes poetry and prose, and its autobiographical elements) connect with her theoretical contribution to border studies and concepts of transnationalism?
2) In their introduction to the fourth edition of Borderlands/ La Frontera, Norma Cantú and Aída Hurtado contend that “Gloria Anzaldúa wrote from her own lived experiences and honored every event in her life that helped her construct her own lens as she experienced the world” (3). Guided by Anzaldúa’s hybrid aesthetic, create a blog post that engages with language, genre, or life writing to contemplate how your lived experiences shape your engagement with notions of transnationalism in our seminar.
3) Drawing on at least two of this week’s readings (Anzaldúa, Koshy, Shih, Spivak, and Pérez Torres), consider the way these writers discuss border crossings in relation to transnationalism, both as a historical phenomenon and as a category of analysis.
I really connected to your post about the town of Eupen and the cultural manifestations of its deterritorialized nature. Having studied abroad in Bonifacio, Corsica, I can 100% relate to the almost uncanny experience of visiting a place that neither belongs to nor is foreign to its neighboring countries. Corsica, an island off the coast of southern France is technically considered a region of France, however, its location next to Sardinia and closer to Italy than France coupled with Corsica’s long history as an independent nation with its own language, customs, and fierce pride leave this beautiful Mediterranean island simultaneously full of cultural identities and yet void of a true national identity. In this way, like Eupen, Corsica is very much a borderland. Corsicans speak French, Italian, and their native Corsican. They depend on tourism from both neighboring nations as well as outsiders as their major source of industry yet combat the constant invasion of “strangers.” They simultaneously rely on modernism (airplanes, ferryboats, etc.) to bring in tourists and financial stability while promoting a relentless effort to preserve the authenticity of their island’s rich heritage by combating the construction of chain restaurants, stores, and gas stations on Corsican soil.