Sound Research WIKINDX |
Vázquez Enríquez, E. C. (2021). The Sounds of the Desert: Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli. Latin American Literary Review, 48(95), 75–84. Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard (13/04/2021, 12:32) |
Resource type: Journal Article Peer reviewed BibTeX citation key: 2021 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details |
Categories: General Keywords: Imagination, Literature Creators: Vázquez Enríquez Collection: Latin American Literary Review |
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Abstract |
In the novel Lost Children Archive (2019) by Valeria Luiselli, sounds become narrative tools to underscore the political, historical, and ecological facets of the Desert Southwest. In this article, I contend that by attending to multiple temporalities, the novel addresses ongoing colonization processes that have taken place in the desert, draws attention to environmental challenges faced by the arid ecosystem, and memorializes its weaponization against migrants. To this end, I focus on the projects carried out by two of the protagonists, which are an inventory of echoes and a sound documentary. Whereas the former attempts to record what is left from the soundscape that surrounded the Chiricahua Apaches led by Geronimo, the latter focuses on the journey of refugee children in the context of the Mexico-US border. Thus, the novel offers a complex and multidimensional depiction of the biome, which is portrayed as a central device in border-control strategies, an ecosystem, and Native land.
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