Towards the Construction of a ‘Homemade Citizenship’ in Illegal:Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant (2019), by José Ángel Navejas

Authors

  • Gabriela Buitrón Vera Loyola University Chicago

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v16i32.718

Abstract

In this essay, I examine the memoir Ilegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant (2019), by Jose Ángel Navejas. Through a close reading of this text, I propose that the narrator articulates on the ways undocumented Mexican immigrants create spaces of allyship and belonging. To examine that, I draw from Mitchell’s (2020) concept of ‘homemade citizenship,’ which emphasizes that 'belonging' does not depend on civic inclusion or state recognition, but rather, belonging is a notion that is built through informal community practices. Hence, I propose that in Illegal, the narrator affirms himself and integrates to the community through: 1) language and access to formal education, 2) the neighborhood of Pilsen, in Chicago; and 3) his family network. These informal spaces bestow the narrator with a sense of homemade citizenship.

Keywords: Mexican literature, memoir, homemade citizenship, cultural citizenship, informal social contract.

Author Biography

Gabriela Buitrón Vera, Loyola University Chicago

Gabriela A. Buitrón Vera es doctora en literatura latinoamericana por la universidad de Colorado, Boulder. En la actualidad ejerce como profesora de tiempo completo en la Facultad de Literatura y Lenguas de la Universidad de Loyola en Chicago. Sus principales temas de investigación son la representación de los desastres naturales, literatura mexicana, migración y los estudios de género. Entre sus publicaciones destacan “Cracks as Portals of Change: A Reading of Disasters in Juan Villoro’s Novel Materia dispuesta” (Rocky Mountain Language Review, 2021), “Comic Book Depictions of the Mexico City Earthquake of 1985” (Oxford University Press, 2022) y la reseña de Border Thinking: LatinX Youth: Decolonizing Citizenship by Andrea Dyrness and Enrique Sepúlveda III, en Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, Vol. 5, 2021: 277-279. 

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Published

2023-07-01

How to Cite

Buitrón Vera, G. (2023). Towards the Construction of a ‘Homemade Citizenship’ in Illegal:Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant (2019), by José Ángel Navejas. Valenciana, 16(32), 285–309. https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v16i32.718

Issue

No. 32 (2023): Valenciana, julio-diciembre 2023

Section

Dossier

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Copyright (c) 2023 Gabriela BV

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