“What Is in a Name?”: “Illegal Pete’s” and the Normalization of Violence Against Mexicans in the United States

• 作者: Sophie S.Alves
• 来源期刊: 新闻与大众传媒:英文版
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: U.S.-Mexico BORDER ILLEGALITY NORMALIZATION of VIOLENCE structural oblivion anxious belonging
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（1）
• 页码范围: 15-27
• 页数: 13页
• 分类号: H31

摘要

On December 2015,a new restaurant opened next to the University of Arizona campus,in Tucson.Its name was“Illegal Pete’s”and it sold Mexican food.The presence of this establishment led to an intense backlash between several University of Arizona students and the owner of the restaurant as they argued over the use of the world“illegal”.This paper reflects on the construction of“illegality”,its meaning and consequences on lived experiences.Drawing on Bakhtin’s analysis of words and his concepts of“single-voiced”and“double-voiced”discourses,I examine how the word“illegal”perpetuates and normalizes discrimination,criminalization,and racism towards Mexican-origin people and leads to feelings of anxious belonging.