From Borderlands to In-Between Spaces A Chronological Analysis of Anzaldúa’s Ontology

Abstract

This thesis analyses the chronological development of Anzaldúa’s nepantla concept in Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro out of the borderlands concept presented in Borderlands/La Frontera and the degree to which the two texts enact these concepts themselves. The analysis serves as a first attempt to extend the arguments by Bornstein-Gómez and Yarbro-Bejarano on Anzaldúa’s form, by demonstrating the degree to which some of Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro’s elements are informed by the theoretical concepts introduced in Borderlands/La Frontera. The enactment of the borderland concept is analysed through Anzaldúa’s frequent switching of codes, voice and narrative mode within Borderlands/La Frontera. For Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro, the imagery of the Guadalupe tree is considered as a direct enactment of the nepantla concept. It is argued, that the linguistic crossings that occur within Borderlands/La Frontera reveal a third space, outside of the insufficient binary opposition of the border, and that Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro itself is written directly from this space.