On Migrant Imaginaries by Schmidt-Camacho and Borderlands/La Frontera by Anzaldua

In Migrant Imaginaries Schmidt-Camacho provides a view on the transnational movements of Mexican migrants toward United States from the 1920s onwards. The relationship between the Mexican glossiness and the companionable movements created by the migration is analyzed through the focus on some important historical moments (the 1930s, the Chicano Movement, contemporary globalization and neoliberalism).Borderlands/la Frontera is a text that deals with the creation of borderline not only in the physical scarce also in the figurative meaning Anzaldua uses her own experiences as a Chicana, as a lesbian and as an activist to chall(a)enge the conception of a border as a simple divide. In both texts, what stands up most is how identity element could be a difficult concept to define due to the implication that the migration and the condition of migrant dictate on people. What does the term identity mean for a migrant?This is the question, that in my opinion is raised by the reading of th e works by Schmidt-Camacho and Anzaldua. Usually identity is an umbrella term used throughout the social sciences to describe a persons conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations (such as national identity and cultural identity). But this conception of identity is challenged terrestrial in migrant communities by the circumstances of their lifestyle in a different country and to define it correctly one have to analyze all the consequences of the cross-boarding.In order to outline the different ways both texts lead to a deep comprehension of the concept of Identity in migrant communities, I go out develop the ideas of migrant melancholia and mestiza consciousness, as they be provided from the texts, comparing and contrasting the two points of views and pointing out how in the end both concepts are useful to define the stance of migrant. Migrant melancholia as defined by Camacho as, an emergent mode of migrant subjectivity that contests the dehumanizing effects of the unauthorized border crossing. (286).The condition of border crosser causes a tell of depression that realises from the consciousness, of the necessity of emigration. By leaving their home country, migrants mark the the loss of a social contractbehind their willful journey away from the spaces of common belonging and citizenship, the specter of state failure looms large. Mexican migrants are pushed to leave their home country by the inadequacy of the economic situation, the ethical autocratic to survive cannot conform to the geopolitical fiction of sovereign borders. Due to the U. S. mmigration policies making the possibility of circular migration unavailable to many migrants, once accepted in to the U. S. , migrants idolatry they will not be allowed to re enter the U. S. , should they return to Mexico. Migrants move to settle for ever and the home country turn into a beloved heading whose loss is mourned as the one of a beloved relative. The relationship betwe en the migrant, his home country and the new country in which he moves is shaped by the circumstances of the border-crossing as well as the new conditions that the migrant faces in his new life.In Borderland/la Frontera Anzaldua describes the complexity of being a Mestiza. To fully generalise the text is necessary first to analyze what the term means and what are the implication of labeling someone as a mestizo according to an article make on the Feminist Theory Keyword website (a project by Womens Studies students at Portland State University) by using the word Mestiza Anzaldua is automatically expressing a multitudes of races and enclosing in this one word a series of cultural and ideological consequences. You can think of it as a contradiction within itself. Because as a Mestiza you do not belong to one category but intertwine with a range of others. However, this does not bring absolute acceptance. A Mestiza has indigenous ancestry but also shares current civilization blood an d traditions. She is ambiguous and has no actual place she can call home. Like a drifting spirit she spends her measure trying to figure out who she is, where she belongs and how she got in this current situation.Both concepts of migrant melancholia and mestiza consciousness deal with the difficulty of find an only definition for the identity of the migrants, the ones who are leaving their own country but even the ones who are already settled in a new land. The struggle between who they really are, their origins, traditions, the alliance to their home country and what they are forced to be and to do by life circumstances. Workers who try to integrate in a society that points at them as aliens that belong to a different reality.Another topic that both books highlight is how the established power of state governments challenge the identity of migrants. In Migrant imaginaries the focus is on how the Mexican state pushes their citizens to run away from their country by being unable to provide social security amongst other things. Furthermore this text shows the excited plight of the migrants, particularly their feelings of disappointment in their home state. Whereas in Borderland/La Frontera the text discusses the difficulties faced by migrants once they have crossed the border into the U. S. as well as their feelings when they try to integrate into the new society. The two books address different perspectives of the migrants journey, Schmidt-Camacho is more concerned in criticizing the historical and economical issues that derive from the migration, while Azaldua deals with the emotional consequences of these social movements. From this the reader can fully understand the two different pressures placed upon the migrants when moving between cultures.