Date of Award
8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English and Writing Studies
Department
English
First Reader/Committee Chair
Vanessa Ovalle Perez
Abstract
Borderland literature is a subgenre that often includes narratives of migration, tribulations, identity development, and resilience. It foregrounds the collaboration of vulnerability, isolation, connection, and power, showing that hybridity is a source of cultural energy. Acknowledging the borderland and its culture is crucial because it challenges stereotypes, validates marginalized voices, and celebrates heritage in all its complexity. By centering these experiences, borderland literature affirms the potential of living between cultures, prioritizing the recognition of the in-between, valuing and celebrating the space where identities are continually reshaped, histories are reclaimed, and resilience is nurtured rather than neglected. Using Gloria Anzaldúa's theory of the Borderlands as a theoretical framework enables further exploration of lived experiences in the works of poets such as Natalie Diaz and Eduardo C. Corral. Anzaldúa's borderland theory advocates and makes space for hybridity, fracture, and multiplicity in identity, allowing poetry to act as a critical space for reimagining voice, belonging, and resistance within the borderlands. Understanding the borderlands further clarifies the complexity of linguistic identity as taken up by contemporary poets and situates the borderlands as a site of hybridity, tension, and creative possibility.
Recommended Citation
Porras Villalobos, Brissa S., "From Margins to Center: Los Deslenguados in the Borderlands" (2026). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2532.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2532
Included in
Comparative Literature Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Poetry Commons