The new Mexican migration: Remembering violence, connecting, and living in the third space

Uriel G Posada, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

The concept of identity has become a topic of discussion in the last few decades, especially with the growing immigration across several countries. Countries such as the United States and Canada are receiving people who arrive from different parts of the world and who are changing the composition of these countries. In this thesis I explore how a group of Mexican journalists are adjusting their identity as they live in countries outside of Mexico. Five of the journalists are now living in the United States, and one of them is in Canada. They were forced to leave Mexico after they were threatened with violence by the Mexican government. Their crime: reporting abuses by Mexican authorities. The forced migration undertaken by the journalists has caused them to redefine the way they see themselves, to negotiate their identity, and to adapt their professional and personal lives to a new reality. In this thesis I endeavor to explain why the majority of the journalists interviewed do not want to go back to Mexico leading to a potential renegotiation of their identities. Lastly I highlight how these journalists operate in a transnational sphere, experimenting with a heightened sense of transnationalism; placing themselves in what is known as thirdspace, from which they resist and criticize the hegemonic power that made them leave everything behind and settle in a new country.

Subject Area

Journalism|Communication|Latin American Studies

Recommended Citation

Posada, Uriel G, "The new Mexican migration: Remembering violence, connecting, and living in the third space" (2012). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1533261.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1533261

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