Transcript El Norte

El Norte
Magic Realism and Extraordinary
Characteristics
Magic Realism
Supernatural images that interrupt seamless
logic of realism.
 Offers marvelous-real aesthetics that
interrupt the narrative logic and/or
reinterpret the past or prophesize the
future.

Examples of Magic-realism







Butterflies--as Rosa attempts to flee her home in
Guatemala.
Deer/Flower--as Enrique and Rosa meet before
fleeing their town.
Odd Sisters--As Rosa hurries out of town.
The Bus Ride--as they flee to Tijuana
The Tunnel--heading to the United States
Appearance of the parents in the U.S.
Full Moons and circles.
Some Extraordinary Elements





Rosa and Enrique as the heroic twins in the
Mayan Popol Vuh (a Mayan creation myth).
Articulation between political repression in
Guatemala and exploitation of the
undocumented in the United States.
Arturo Xuncax: the indigenous experience
El Coyote: immigrant exploitation and the
immigrant experience.
El Norte: life as an undocumented immigrant.
Extraordinary Elements cont.
Trilinguality (Mayan, Spanish, English)
 Sympathetic to the plight of undocumented.
 Elements of Magic-realism.
 Asexualization of the female character.
 Chicanos as villains.
 The border as the “ominous character.”
