Cultural Representations of Feminicidio at the US-Mexico Border

Since the early 1990s, the repeated murders of women from Ciudad Jurez, Mexico have become something of a global cause clbre. Cultural Representations of Feminicidio at the US-Mexico Border examines creative responses to these acts of violence. It reveals how theatre, art, film, fiction and other popular cultural forms seek to remember and mourn the female victims of violent death in the city at the same time as they interrogate the political, legal and societal structures that produce the crimes. Different chapters examine the varying art forms to engage with Ciudad Jurezs feminicidal wave. Finnegan discusses lex Rigolas theatrical adaptation of Roberto Bolaos novel 2666 by Teatre Lliure in Barcelona as well as painting about the victims of feminicidio by Irish painter Brian Maguire. There is analysis of documentary film about Ciudad Jurez, including Lourdes Portillos acclaimed Seorita Extraviada (2001). The final chapter turns its attention to writing about feminicide and examines testimonial and crime fiction narratives like the mystery novel Desert Blood: The Jurez Murders by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, among other examples. By drawing on a range of artistic responses to the murders in Ciudad Jurez, Cultural Representations of Feminicidio at the US-Mexico Border shows how art, film, theatre and fiction can unsettle official narratives about the crimes and undo the static paradigms that are frequently used to interpret them.