Hosts, Guests and Parasites in Helena Maria Viramontes' “The Cariboo Café”

  1. Jesús Benito Sánchez 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Valladolid
    info

    Universidad de Valladolid

    Valladolid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01fvbaw18

Revista:
Miscelánea: A journal of english and american studies

ISSN: 1137-6368,  2386-4834

Ano de publicación: 2018

Número: 58

Páxinas: 49-65

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.26754/OJS_MISC/MJ.20186303 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

Outras publicacións en: Miscelánea: A journal of english and american studies

Obxectivos de Desenvolvemento Sustentable

Resumo

The correlation between immigrants and parasites is a common theme in political discourse. The nation-state assumes the role of a living organism that allows the entrance of an alien, a guest of sorts, who, in turn, endangers the wellbeing of the host. Such is the initial vision of the migrant woman in Helena Maria Viramontes’ “The Cariboo Café” (1995). Drawing from Michel Serres, Jaques Derrida and Mireille Rosello, this article analyses the story from the perspective of the hospitality framework. The figure of the parasite appears as a liminal figure that establishes a symbiotic relationship with the host both on the social and the linguistic levels. As a disturber of peace and order, the parasite disrupts the traditional relations with the abused guest. In the story, the café owner’s gatekeeping activities, both linguistic and ideological, become suspended. The opposition between host/guest-parasite, legal/illegal, inside/outside opens to an infinite range of possibilities between alleged polar opposites.

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Información de financiamento

1. Research funds for this article were provided by the European Commission through the Erasmus + Ka2 project “Hospitality in European Film” (ref. 2017-1-ES01-KA203-038181), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research project “Critical History of Ethnic American Literature: An Intercultural Approach” (ref. FFI2015-64137-P), and by the Regional Government of Castile and Leon through the research project “The Frontiers of Hospitality in Spanish and American Cultural Studies” (ref. SA342U14).

Financiadores

Fonte de datos: Dialnet