Introduction
This essay explores the concept of borderlands consciousness through a comparative literary analysis of Américo Paredes’ *George Washington Gómez* (1990) and Jovita González and Eve Raleigh’s *Caballero* (1996). Specifically, it examines how both texts depict the complex interplay of racial identity and cultural conflict between Mexican and White communities in the borderlands of the American Southwest. Borderlands consciousness, as conceptualised by Gloria Anzaldúa (1987), refers to the psychological and cultural state of living between two worlds, often marked by tension, hybridity, and the negotiation of identity across racial and national divides. In *George Washington Gómez*, a bildungsroman, the protagonist Guálinto grapples with racism and cultural alienation, while in *Caballero*, a romance novel, Susanita’s mixed racial appearance and social positioning highlight the fetishisation and ambiguity of identity in borderland spaces. By focusing on racial dynamics and the influence of genre on narrative meaning, this essay argues that both texts illustrate the profound impact of borderlands consciousness on personal and communal identities, though they do so through distinct formal structures that shape their respective portrayals of resistance and assimilation.
Borderlands Consciousness: Theoretical Framework and Contextual Background
Borderlands consciousness, as articulated by Anzaldúa (1987), emerges from the physical and metaphorical border between Mexico and the United States, where individuals navigate the tensions of dual heritage, language, and societal expectations. It is a state of being caught between conflicting cultures, often resulting in a fractured sense of self but also offering potential for resistance and hybrid identity formation. In the context of early 20th-century Texas, where both *George Washington Gómez* and *Caballero* are set, the borderlands were a site of intense racial and political friction following the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), which ceded vast territories to the United States (Limón, 1994). Mexican Americans faced systemic discrimination, land dispossession, and cultural marginalisation, creating a fertile ground for the emergence of borderlands consciousness.
This historical backdrop is crucial to understanding the racial dynamics in both texts. As Limón (1994) argues, literature from this period often reflects the struggle to reconcile Mexican heritage with American assimilation, a theme central to borderlands consciousness. Both Paredes and González, in their respective works, engage with these tensions, though their approaches are shaped by the genres of bildungsroman and romance, which influence how racial identity and cultural conflict are narrativised.
Racial Identity and Exclusion in George Washington Gómez
In *George Washington Gómez*, Paredes employs the bildungsroman form to trace the development of Guálinto, a young Mexican American growing up in South Texas during the early 20th century. The novel’s focus on personal growth and societal integration inherently ties it to questions of identity and belonging, particularly in a racially divided context. One of the earliest and most formative experiences for Guálinto is his encounter with racism in the classroom and playground, which encapsulates the essence of borderlands consciousness as a lived experience of exclusion and duality.
During his early school years, Guálinto experiences a superficial acceptance by his White peers within the controlled environment of the classroom, where institutional norms temporarily mask racial hierarchies. However, this fragile inclusion disintegrates on the playground, where social interactions are unmediated by authority. Here, Guálinto gravitates towards other Texas-Mexicans, highlighting the unspoken boundaries that govern racial interactions (Paredes, 1990). This dichotomy between acceptance and segregation reflects what Anzaldúa (1987) describes as the constant negotiation of identity in borderland spaces, where belonging is never fully attainable. Guálinto’s internal conflict—between his Mexican heritage and the pressure to assimilate into Anglo-American culture—mirrors the broader struggle of Mexican Americans in the borderlands to define themselves against external categorisations.
The bildungsroman structure amplifies this theme by framing Guálinto’s life as a journey towards self-realisation. However, unlike traditional bildungsromans that end with the protagonist’s integration into society, Paredes subverts the genre by presenting Guálinto’s eventual assimilation as a betrayal of his cultural roots. This subversion critiques the impossibility of true belonging for Mexican Americans in a society structured by racial hierarchies, thereby underscoring the alienation inherent in borderlands consciousness (Saldívar, 2006).
Ambiguity and Fetishisation of Racial Identity in Caballero
In contrast, *Caballero* by González and Raleigh uses the romance genre to explore borderlands consciousness through the lens of love and familial conflict during the aftermath of the Mexican-American War. The protagonist, Susanita, embodies the racial and cultural ambiguities of the borderlands through her mixed Mexican heritage and White physical features, which position her as an object of desire for Anglo suitors. Her appearance—light skin and features that align with Eurocentric beauty standards—makes her the main love interest in the novel, highlighting how racial identity in the borderlands is often fetishised rather than understood (González and Raleigh, 1996).
Susanita’s dual identity places her at the intersection of Mexican tradition and Anglo dominance, a position that mirrors the concept of borderlands consciousness as a site of tension and hybridity. On one hand, she is part of a proud Mexican ranchero family resisting Anglo encroachment; on the other, her appearance aligns her with the cultural ideals of the oppressor, creating a conflict between her internal sense of self and external perceptions (Cotera, 2008). This ambiguity is central to the romance genre, which often relies on misunderstandings and social barriers as narrative drivers. In Caballero, racial difference serves as both an obstacle to love and a point of fascination, reflecting the broader societal obsession with categorising and hierarchising identity in the borderlands.
Moreover, the romance form shapes the portrayal of borderlands consciousness by focusing on personal relationships rather than systemic issues. While George Washington Gómez critiques institutional racism through Guálinto’s education and eventual assimilation, Caballero frames racial conflict within the domestic and emotional sphere. Susanita’s struggle to reconcile her identity is thus rendered intimate and individual, though it still gestures towards the larger cultural clashes of the era (Cotera, 2008). This genre-specific approach, while limiting in its scope of systemic critique, provides a nuanced exploration of how borderlands consciousness permeates even the most personal aspects of life.
Comparative Analysis: Genre and the Representation of Borderlands Consciousness
While both texts address borderlands consciousness through racial identity and cultural conflict, their differing genres—bildungsroman in *George Washington Gómez* and romance in *Caballero*—shape their representations in distinct ways. The bildungsroman structure of Paredes’ novel allows for a longitudinal examination of Guálinto’s identity formation, revealing how sustained exposure to racism and assimilationist pressures leads to a fragmented sense of self. This developmental focus aligns with Anzaldúa’s notion of borderlands consciousness as an ongoing process of negotiation, often marked by loss and compromise (Anzaldúa, 1987).
Conversely, the romance framework of Caballero compresses the exploration of borderlands consciousness into moments of interpersonal tension and desire. Susanita’s racial ambiguity is not traced through a personal journey of growth but rather through her relationships, which serve as microcosms of larger cultural conflicts. This genre-driven focus on emotion and resolution, however, sometimes oversimplifies the systemic dimensions of racial inequality, presenting borderlands consciousness as a personal dilemma rather than a structural issue (Cotera, 2008).
Despite these differences, both texts converge in their depiction of the borderlands as a space of inherent conflict and duality. Whether through Guálinto’s alienation on the playground or Susanita’s fetishisation as a racial “other,” both narratives underscore the impossibility of fully belonging to either Mexican or Anglo worlds. This shared theme highlights the pervasive impact of borderlands consciousness on identity, regardless of the narrative form used to express it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, *George Washington Gómez* and *Caballero* offer compelling explorations of borderlands consciousness through their portrayals of racial identity and cultural conflict in the American Southwest. Paredes’ bildungsroman reveals the systemic forces of racism and assimilation that shape Guálinto’s fractured identity, while González and Raleigh’s romance novel delves into the personal and emotional ambiguities of Susanita’s racial positioning. Although their genres influence the depth and focus of their critiques—developmental and systemic in the former, intimate and individual in the latter—both texts underscore the enduring tension of living between two worlds. This analysis not only illuminates the complexities of borderlands consciousness but also demonstrates the critical role of genre in shaping literary representations of identity. Indeed, further examination of how other borderlands texts negotiate these themes could provide deeper insights into the intersection of form and cultural critique, highlighting the broader implications for understanding hybrid identities in postcolonial contexts.
References
- Anzaldúa, G. (1987) Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
- Cotera, M. E. (2008) Native Speakers: Ella Deloria, Zora Neale Hurston, Jovita González, and the Poetics of Culture. Austin: University of Texas Press.
- González, J. and Raleigh, E. (1996) Caballero: A Historical Novel. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.
- Limón, J. E. (1994) Dancing with the Devil: Society and Cultural Poetics in Mexican-American South Texas. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- Paredes, A. (1990) George Washington Gómez: A Mexicotexan Novel. Houston: Arte Público Press.
- Saldívar, R. (2006) The Borderlands of Culture: Américo Paredes and the Transnational Imaginary. Durham: Duke University Press.
