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This book offers a comprehensive and systematic overview of the flourishing genre of the contemporary Latin American road movie, of which Diarios de motocicleta and Y tu mamá también are only the best-known examples. It offers the first systematic survey of the genre and explains why the road movie is key to contemporary Latin American cinema and society. Proposing the new category of "counter-road movie," and paying special attention to the genre's intricate relationship to modernity, Nadia Lie charts the variety of the road movie through films by both renowned and emerging filmmakers. The Latin American (Counter-) Road Movie and Ambivalent Modernity engages with ongoing debates on transnationalism and takes the reader along a wide range of topics, from exile to undocumented migration, from tourism to internally displaced people.
List of contents
.Introduction.- 1. Traveling Across the Continent.- 2. Nations in Crisis.- 3. The Patagonian Pull.- 4: Heading North: Undocumented Migrants on the US-Mexican Border.- 5. Homeless People Roaming the Roads.- 6. Tourism.
About the author
Nadia Lie is Professor of Latin American Literature and Film at KU Leuven, Belgium.
Summary
This book offers a comprehensive and systematic overview of the flourishing genre of the contemporary Latin American road movie, of which Diarios de motocicleta and Y tu mamá también are only the best-known examples. It offers the first systematic survey of the genre and explains why the road movie is key to contemporary Latin American cinema and society. Proposing the new category of “counter-road movie,” and paying special attention to the genre’s intricate relationship to modernity, Nadia Lie charts the variety of the road movie through films by both renowned and emerging filmmakers. The Latin American (Counter-) Road Movie and Ambivalent Modernity engages with ongoing debates on transnationalism and takes the reader along a wide range of topics, from exile to undocumented migration, from tourism to internally displaced people.
Additional text
“The Latin American (Counter -) Road Movie and Ambivalent Modernity is an excellent source of study for academics and students. … The book deftly incorporates relevant theory and criticism while contextualizing the topics addressed within the growing field of transnational cinema.” (Carolina Rueda, Transnational Screens, April 26, 2019)
“Thanks to the extent of the author’s investigation we can comprehend the cultural imagery and the social and political panorama of the Latin American road movie. … This book will provide invaluable interpretations for students and scholars of Latin American film and of the road movie as a very engaging genre.” (Rhoda Desbordes-Vela, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 38 (3), 2018)
“Nadia Lie’s brilliant book demonstrates how reconsideringthis film genre from the perspective of Latin American cinema allows us to enrich and refine not only our understanding of the road movie itself, but also the definition of modernity and of the ‘road’, as a way of transport and communication and as a metaphor for (modern) life.” (Sophie Dufays, Image & Narrative, Vol. 18 (4), 2017)
Report
"The Latin American (Counter -) Road Movie and Ambivalent Modernity is an excellent source of study for academics and students. ... The book deftly incorporates relevant theory and criticism while contextualizing the topics addressed within the growing field of transnational cinema." (Carolina Rueda, Transnational Screens, April 26, 2019)
"Thanks to the extent of the author's investigation we can comprehend the cultural imagery and the social and political panorama of the Latin American road movie. ... This book will provide invaluable interpretations for students and scholars of Latin American film and of the road movie as a very engaging genre." (Rhoda Desbordes-Vela, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 38 (3), 2018)
"Nadia Lie's brilliant book demonstrates how reconsideringthis film genre from the perspective of Latin American cinema allows us to enrich and refine not only our understanding of the road movie itself, but also the definition of modernity and of the 'road', as a way of transport and communication and as a metaphor for (modern) life." (Sophie Dufays, Image & Narrative, Vol. 18 (4), 2017)
