American encounters

the long version

The idea of crossing the border between the U.S. and what Jose Limon calls "Greater Mexico" has always conjured images of racial hostility and exclusion. Award-winning anthropologist Limon looks into history, politics, literature, folklore, ethnography, biography, film, song, and dance to probe the deeply entwined and ambivalent relationship between both sides the border over the last 150 years. From the writing of Katherine Anne Porter to the life of the late Chicana pop star Selena; from the career of the distinguished Mexican anthropologist Manuel Gamio to Henry Cisneros and the 1990 Texas gubernatorial campaign; from Cormac McCarthy to John Sayles's film Lone Star, Limon's analysis engages us in the political, popular, and cultural dimensions of the border and offers hope for the future.