Narrating North American Borderlands

Combining historical, sociological and political as well as literary methods, the interdisciplinary study analyzes Thomas King’s (1999), Howard Frank Mosher’s (2007), and Jim Lynch’s (2009). The novels narrate North American borderlands and gauge current developments at the Canada-U.S. border.

holds a MA in Conference Interpreting for English and French and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Mainz. She was a visiting scholar and researcher at Carleton University (Canada) and at the Border Policy Research Institute, Western Washington University (USA). She worked as a lecturer at the Universities of Mainz and Saarbrücken and currently teaches at Landshut.

Contents: Canadian-U.S. Border Contexts and the Notion of the Beyond – Theoretical Frame: At the Interface of Literatures, Cultures, and Borders – Thomas King’s : Native De/Bordering – Howard Frank Mosher’s : Borderlands as Utopia – Jim Lynch’s : Power Structures, Permeability, and Mobility.