Godinez Paez, Jonathan
(2024)
Fronteras literarias y cuerpos ciborg: las desigualdades socioeconómicas en la ciencia ficción mexicana (1991-2014).
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
In the second half of the 1980's, Mexico's National Council for Science and Technology began to publish Mexican science fiction short stories in their magazine Ciencia y Desarrollo. This editorial milestone sparked a new generation of Mexican science fiction writers, who, in the following decade, began to publish their work in anthologies. This dissertation analyses a group of science fiction short stories published in those anthologies from 1991 to 2014. Through these short stories, I analyze how Mexican cyberpunk depicts the anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and how this newly created free-trade zone brought a false sense of hope toward progress and modernity while allowing workers to be exploited, with the complicity of the Mexican State. My work also addresses how the United States-Mexico border has been represented in Mexican science fiction and how it reveals the fissures of a divided Mexican society, which must deal with extreme social inequalities and an ever-present state of violence. How augmented and virtual reality cohabitate these border spaces and dynamics is a central issue of this dissertation. Because social inequalities in Mexico spread well beyond its border with the United States, this project ends by discussing the alarming—inequalities of water distribution in Mexico City and Durango. Mexico's reliance on technology to solve its water shortage problems through hydraulic megaprojects poses a massive danger for its aquifers and basins. This dissertation addresses these catastrophic unequal dynamics through the lens of Mexican science fiction.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
| Creators | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Godinez Paez, Jonathan | jog98@pitt.edu | jog98 | |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
8 May 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
26 February 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
8 May 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
12 March 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
250 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Hispanic Languages and Literatures |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Mexican Literature, Mexican Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Cyborg, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Violence, Agrarian Reform, Catastrophe, Water Distribution, Inequality. |
| Date Deposited: |
08 May 2024 17:37 |
| Last Modified: |
08 May 2024 17:37 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/45860 |
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