The Latin American Road Movie

288 Pages·2016·2.876 MB·English

by  Verónica Garibotto, Jorge Pérez (eds.)

GLOBAL
CINEMA
The Latin
American
Road Movie
Edited by
Verónica Garibotto & Jorge Pérez
Global Cinema
Series Editors
Katarzyna   Marciniak
Ohio University
Los Angeles ,   California U SA
Anikó   Imre
University of Southern California
Claremont ,   California U SA
Áine   O’Healy
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles ,   USA
The Global Cinema series publishes innovative scholarship on the trans-
national themes, industries, economies, and aesthetic elements that
increasingly connect cinemas around the world. It promotes theoreti-
cally transformative and politically challenging projects that rethink fi lm
studies from cross-cultural, comparative perspectives, bringing into focus
forms of cinematic production that resist nationalist or hegemonic frame-
works. Rather than aiming at comprehensive geographical coverage, it
foregrounds transnational interconnections in the production, distribu-
tion, exhibition, study, and teaching of fi lm. Dedicated to global aspects
of cinema, this pioneering series combines original perspectives and new
methodological paths with accessibility and coverage. Both ‘global’ and
‘cinema’ remain open to a range of approaches and interpretations, new
and traditional. Books published in the series sustain a specifi c concern
with the medium of cinema but do not defensively protect the boundaries
of fi lm studies, recognizing that fi lm exists in a converging media environ-
ment. The series emphasizes a historically expanded rather than an exclu-
sively presentist notion of globalization; it is mindful of repositioning ‘the
global’ away from a US-centric/Eurocentric grid, and remains critical of
celebratory notions of ‘globalizing fi lm studies.’
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/15005
Verónica Garibotto • J orge Pérez
Editors
The Latin American
Road Movie
Editors
Verónica Garibotto Jorge Pérez
The University of Kansas The University of Kansas
USA USA
Global Cinema
ISBN 978-1-137-59035-0 ISBN 978-1-137-58093-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58093-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016942695
The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Cover illustration: © Stefano Politi Markovina / Alamy Stock Photo
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank fi rst and foremost our contributors, who responded
enthusiastically to our invitation to participate in this project and whose
work made it all possible. A number of colleagues and friends have helped
us with expert advice at various stages of the process. From the University
of Kansas camp, Santa Arias and Stuart Day shared their wise thoughts and
helpful models when we were putting together the book proposal. Rafael
Acosta served as inspiration by having us over for homemade Mexican
food and an unforgettable viewing session of Lola la trailera , arguably
the kitschiest road movie ever made. The generous travel funds received
from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese allowed us to attend the
LASA Convention in Puerto Rico to present this project. We were also
lucky to receive the help of a fabulous team of graduate research assistants,
courtesy of Graduate Research Fellowships allocated by the University of
Kansas. Andrés Rabinovich and Lina Muñoz-Márquez put together for
us a thorough archive of materials and publications about Latin American
road movies. Juan Pablo Román-Alvarado prepared the fi nal version of the
manuscript with unparalleled attention to detail. We also want to thank
Joanna Page from the University of Cambridge for calling our attention
to experts in Latin American road movies. Santiago Fouz Hernández, a
master in collaborative projects, provided extremely helpful insights about
the ins and outs of publishing a coedited volume. At Palgrave Macmillan,
we are indebted to our commissioning editor, Shaun Vigil, for believing
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
in this project and for his superb professionalism to move forward with it,
as well as to the patience and helpful guidance of editorial assistant Erica
Buchman. As always, family, partners, and friends were patient and uncon-
ditionally supportive throughout our road trip.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction: Reconfi guring Precarious Landscapes:
The Road Movie in Latin America 1
Verónica Garibotto and Jorge Pérez
Part I L atin American Modernity on the Road and
in the Spotlight 29
2 Revisiting Modernity Through the Latin American
Road Movie 31
Nadia Lie
3 Journey to the Ruins of Modernity: Euforia and 40 días 53
Ignacio M. Sánchez-Prado
4 The Power of Running on Empty: On the Road
in Post-Soviet Cuba 7 3
Vicky Unruh
Part II T he Latin American Road Movie:
Readings and Genealogies 95
5 Recorriendo las Américas: Cars, Roads,
and Latin American Cinema 97
Gilberto Blasini
6 Lonely Souls in Sólo Dios Sabe by Carlos Bolado:
Pastoralism and Syncretic Spirituality in Times of Crisis 121
Salvador Oropesa
vii
viii CONTENTS
7 Tania Hermida’s Qué tan lejos: Bending Conventions
on the Road to Cuenca 1 37
Carolina Rueda
Part III H eterogeneous Territories: Mapping Class,
Race, Gender, and Sexuality 155
8 Central American Non-belonging: Reading ‘El Norte’
in Cary Fukunaga’s Sin nombre 1 57
Yajaira M. Padilla
9 Decolonizing Maya Border Crossings in El Norte
and La Jaula de Oro 1 75
Alicia Ivonne Estrada
10 Confi guring Desire and Social Order in the Contemporary
Mexican Youth Road Film 1 95
Olivia Cosentino
Part IV Regional Techniques and Local Iconographies 215
11 The Contemporary Documentary Road Movie in Latin
America: Issues on Mobility, Displacement,
and Autobiography 217
Pablo Piedras
12 The Contemporary Brazilian Road Movie:
Remapping National Journeys on Screen in Viajo
porque preciso, volto porque te amo 2 37
Sara Brandellero
1 3 Inscription and Subversion of the Road Movie
in Inés de Oliveira Cézar’s Cassandra (2012) 255
Cynthia Tompkins
Index 2 73
N C
OTES ON ONTRIBUTORS
Gilberto   M.   Blasini is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Film
Studies program at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. His work has appeared
in the anthologies Film Analysis: A Norton Reader ; P rospero’s Isles: The Presence of
the Caribbean in the North American Imaginary ; and V isible Nations: Latin
American Film and Video , as well as in the journals B lack Camera , Caribbean
Studies , Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies , Objeto Visual and
Emergences: Journal for the Study of Media & Composite Cultures .
Sara   B randellero is Lecturer of Brazilian Literature and Culture at Leiden
University. She is the author of the monograph On a Knife-Edge: The Poetry of João
Cabral de Melo Neto (Oxford UP, 2011) and the editor of the volume T he Brazilian
Road Movie (U of Wales P, 2013). She has also published numerous articles in
journals such as Bulletin of Hispanic Studies , P ortuguese Studies , and T esserae:
Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies .
Olivia   Cosentino is pursuing her Ph.D. in Latin American Literatures and
Cultures at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on the r epresentations
and ideologies of youth in Mexican cinema from the 1960s onward.
Alicia   I vonne   E strada is an associate professor in the Chicana/o Studies
Department at California State University, Northridge. Her research focuses on
Maya cultural productions in Guatemala and the USA. She has published articles
in Romance Notes , Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature , ACME: An
International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, and Istmo . Her current book
manuscript is entitled Ka Winaq: The Maya Diaspora in Los Angeles, Historical
Memory and Cultural Agency .
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