El Clima en Casas Norteñas

David Hiriart, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

El Clima en Casas Norteñas may seem to have overly complex structure and an ambitious theoretical framework, but that is the text demands. The text that I present in the following pages is a first approach at this novel, which in subsequent drafts will be streamlined thematically through more rigorous research and polished aesthetically as I continue to grow and mature as a writer with the tools given to me in this graduate program. In the story of the H family I found a way to exercise a narrative that has concerned me for as long as I have had memory, which is the fluidity of identity in a place that sits on the edge of two nations: regional politics at the mercy of geopolitical caprices that never considers them. This novel has allowed me to explore a medium in way that I can exploit characteristics that are exclusive to the modern novel, proving (if at the very least only to myself) the validity of the genre in contemporary discourse. The project I present here is a living and moving text which in its fluidity implies a strong level of commitment that I am willing to take on. I take on this responsibility not only because of the challenge it demands of me as a writer but also because of the ethical challenge the project requires from me as a citizen of the region. Thinking globally while acting locally isn’t much of a choice for those of us who inhabit the US-Mexico borderlands and yet the region is often misunderstood as a simple byproduct of its context. The ultimate goal of this project is to assert a regional identity not only for its own sake but for the sake of the discourse of which it is usually left out, using a medium that assures its permanence within that discourse.

Subject Area

Creative writing

Recommended Citation

Hiriart, David, "El Clima en Casas Norteñas" (2020). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI28089862.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI28089862

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