Crossing Borders: Bodies, Tolerance, and Modernity in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing and Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera

초록

In 2024, biometric screening such as fingerprint mapping and facial recognition are becoming norms for foreign nationals entering the United States, while U.S. citizens are given the option to opt out. The use of biometric data has broader implications for the concept of belonging and rootedness. The ideological roots of biometric technology trace back to European modernity and its sudden impact on the Americas during colonization and settlement. This sudden imposition of modernity resulted in a chasm between pre-modern traditions and contemporary societal expectations. These themes are explored in the works of notable American writers like Cormac McCarthy and Gloria Anzaldúa. Comparative studies of these two authors help rethink the complexities of bordered subjectivities and experiences, exploring their shared and differing views on American borders, identity, and modernity. This essay conducts a close reading of both authors, highlighting common and contrasting themes, especially in relation to crossing and living at the U.S.-Mexico border. By examining the borders through McCarthy’s white, male perspective and Anzaldúa’s non-white, female, mestiza viewpoint, the essay delves into the complex interplay of identity, belonging, and bodily experiences. Both McCarthy and Anzaldúa suggest that to be part of the new world at the American border, one must learn from the body’s flexibility and tolerance for painful transformation.

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