Cosmopolitan Strangers in US Latinx Literature and Culture - Building Bridges, Not Walls (Hardcover)

This is a timely book that, through an insightful exploration of recent art (literary and visual texts) created by members of the Latinx community, places emphasis on social bonds and forms of conviviality that run counter to contemporary anti-Latinx discourse. Drawing mostly on neo-cosmopolitan approaches, this book provides a fresh slant on the Latinx stranger, as it not only exposes the processes of othering to which Latinxs are subjected, but also foregrounds their potential to imagine convivial modes of interaction that foster solidarity and social change. The themes and the level of scholarship at stake in this volume appeal to a variety of subject areas, e.g., US Latinx literature and culture, border studies and American studies, all of which are increasingly widely taught in US campuses, and to a lesser (but still significant) extent also in European and Latin American universities. Besides, its focus on pressing contemporary issues, ranging from Latinx immigration, family separation at the US-Mexico border, Latinx urban life, and Latinx politics in the US, may also appeal to non-specialist audiences who wish to learn what it means to be a Latinx politically and culturally. Formed by a team of geographically diverse contributors, some of whom are renowned writers and scholars (e.g., Norma Cantu), while others are at the beginning of promising careers, this volume takes a critical but also optimist approach to tackling some of the challenges that Latinxs, as well as other minorities around the world, are experiencing in contexts of increasing racism and other forms of hatred.