Borders Cohort Reading

I have to admit that I’m “reluctant” to read the chapters from “Borderlands / La Frontera”. For the mixed form of English and Spanish. And the topic is also weird for me at first glance. Strangely, however, I feel like I entered the environment described by the poem in the first chapter. After that, the author talked about the history of the U.S.-Mexican border and Chicana. Considering the title Borderlands, I think the language mixture also shows “borderlands” in the text, which is a novel form for me to read.

Following is the second chapter about rebellion. Although I do not fully understand it, I read some flavors of metaphor. I suppose that the author compares the cultural conflict to border clashes. The representation of the conflict is the author. She is a Chicana, the “borderland” between Indian and Anglo. Also, a queer, the “borderland” between male and female. The rebellion against homophobia also expresses rebellion against patriarchy. (Or white supremacy, or whatever I’m unfamiliar with in history, politics, etc.)

There’s also a borderland in the art area. The freeport, as the article “Duty-Free Art” said. The artworks there do not belong to any country.

And thinking beyond national borders is especially important in the cloud era. While I get bored with these cliches. Such as privacy protection, data sovereignty, etc. It sounds like none of these guys are on the ground (country). The Pirate Bay’s usage of airborne drones explains my opinion: you must use some material to build the network. So you cannot get rid of the real world. The network, the clouds now are the reflection of our real world. Data monopoly is no more different from other monopoly issues for the country and world. The borders that exist offline also exist online in other forms. It may only change after Musk lands on Mars.

These articles generally extend my understanding of borders. Beyond the view of just a line, it can be a space, a concept conflict, or the gap between ambiguous areas.