El Norte

1
El Norte

• Magic Realism and Extraordinary Characteristics

2
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.

3
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.

4
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.

5
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.