Migration in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema

Immigration is an important and much-discussed topic in the United States and throughout the world, and its depiction on screen helps shape the way we perceive this issue. In Migration in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema, Thomas Deveny takes the unique approach of looking at film and immigration with a global perspective, examining emigration and immigration films from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Central America, and the Hispanic Caribbean. In this volume, Deveny approaches each movie with a close textual analysis, keeping in mind the sociological theories regarding migration, as well as incorporating criticism on the film. Recurring themes regarding the depiction of the Other are identified and discussed, as well as themes of individual identity and social and cultural contextualization (stereotypes, rejection, acceptance, and change). Films such as Flowers from Another World, Return to Hansala, El Camino, 14 Kilometers, María Full of Grace, and others are carefully studied throughout. Additional chapters analyze films regarding Colombian mules coming to the U.S. and Uruguayan prostitutes in Spain, while the final chapter rounds out the book with an examination of Al otro Lado (To the Other Side), a film with narratives involving three nationalities and three destinations, thus showing the global nature of the phenomenon. Through the analyses of immigration and emigration depictions in film, this book enables the reader to comprehend the universal nature of migration. Like the films it analyzes, Migration in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema will provide the reader with a deeper understanding of and empathy toward people who leave their homeland for a better life.

Thomas G. Deveny is professor of Spanish and comparative literature at McDaniel College. His books Cain on Screen: Contemporary Spanish Cinema (1993) and Contemporary Spanish Film from Fiction (1999) were also published by Scarecrow-Press.