Cinematographic and Literary Representations of the Femicides in Ciudad Juarez

252 Pages·2013·1.66 MB·English

Cinematographic and Literary Representations of the Femicides in Ciudad
Juarez.

A dissertation submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research
of the University of Cincinnati

In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.)

in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
of the College of Arts and Sciences
2013
by
Olimpia Arellano-Neri

B.S., Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, 1992
M.S., Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1998
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, 2004
M.A., University of Cincinnati, 2008

Committee Chair: Dr. Nicasio Urbina
Abstract
In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, from 1993 to 2008, around 450 women (the
exact number is unknown) were brutally murdered or simply disappeared in mysterious
circumstances. Although the femicides have not stopped as of yet, the various patterns
that characterized the femicides during this period have recently been overshadowed by
a different type of murder which involves both men and women and which seems to
occur during the daylight and in more public places. The large number of femicides has
attracted international attention from groups ranging from human rights associations to
individual authors working in different literary genres. The femicides and all the social
conflicts that have been linked to them have yielded a vast production of literary and
cinematographic pieces which attempt to represent the murders and the circumstances
under which they took place. In this dissertation, six documentaries Señorita extraviada
(2001), The City of Lost Girls (2003), The City of Dead Women (2005), Bajo Juárez
(2006), On the Edge (2006), and Silencio en Juárez (2008); three fiction films Espejo
retrovisor (2002), Bordertown (2006), and Traspatio (2009); and three novels Desert
Blood (2005), 2666 (2004), and Las muertas de Ciudad Juárez: El caso de Elizabeth
Castro García y Abdel Latif Sharif Sharif (1999) are analyzed and compared.
The ability of writers and filmmakers to use textual, aural and visual elements to
reproduce the likeness of the reality before them is assessed, as well as the strategies
employed to compel us to believe that that reality is indeed re-presented before us
objectively. The comparison of the representation of the victims aims to answer two
questions: whether or not an objective depiction of victims can be achieved without
compromising their identity and individual value as human beings, and whether or not
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these femicides can be represented in a way that neither over-emphasizes nor ignores
the implied violence or the socio-political circumstances under which these crimes
happened. At the same time, comparison of the plots serves to answer another key
question, namely that of the perceived causes of the femicides.

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Dedicated to my husband Jeff and to our daughter Lee.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Nicasio Urbina, his
knowledge, expertise, generosity and commitment made this project possible. Thanks
to the members of my committee; Dr.Maria Paz Moreno and Dr. Therese Migraine-
George for their willingness to participate in this research, their time to read the
dissertation, and their valuable suggestions.
I extend my gratitude to the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
at the University of Cincinnati, faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, and fellow graduate
students.
I want to give special thanks to my husband Dr. Jeff Loveland for his help editing
this manuscript, his love, and encouragement.
Thanks to my beloved daughter Leann Loveland for her love and patience.
Thanks to my sisters: Suny, Adela, Rosalia, Gabriela, and Araceli; my brothers:
Armando, Antonio, Arturo, Luis Moises, and Raul; my nephews and my nieces for their
love and encouragement.
I will always be grateful to my dear friends Susan Cogan and Emmanuel Wilson
for their friendship.

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1 DOCUMENTARIES 11
1. Representation of the Victims 13
1.1 Death 15
1.2 Life 19
1.2. 1 “Good” or “Bad” 21
1.2.2 Ethos and Ego 23
1.2.2.1 Ciudad Juarez Population and Migratory Ethos 24
1.2.2.2 Maquiladora Workforce Ethos 25
1.2.2.3 Female – Family Ethos 26
1.2.2.4 Male – Family Ethos 29
1.2.2.5 Age, Gender Ethos 34
1.2.2.6 The Ego 37
2. Irony in the Documentaries 39
3. Material and Format 58
3.1 Narrators 59
3.2 Interviews 63
3.3 Footage 73
3.4 Archival Documents 76
3.5 Symbols 77
3.6 Musical Score 79
3.7 The opening 80
3.8 Inconsistencies in the Documentaries 87
3.9 Violation to the Body of the Documentary 91
3.10 Nichols’ Modes 94
4. Conclusions 98

CHAPTER 2 FICTION FILMS 101
1. The Focus 106
1.1 Focus on Style 107
1.2 Focus on Plot 109
1.3 Focus on a Character 119
1.4 Focus on Ideas 125
2. Representation of the Victims 127
2.1 Direct Victims 127
2.2 Indirect Victims 142
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3. The Causes 144
4. Violence in the Films 160
5. Americanization or Universalization of the Subject 166
6. Conclusions 169

CHAPTER 3 NOVELS 172
1. Narrator 175
2. Plot, Characters, and Theories 190
3. Conclusions 224

CONCLUSIONS 226

BIBLIOGRAPHY 232

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List of Figures

1.1 Objective viewpoint of the mother of one of the victims. On the Edge. 68
1.2 Subjective viewpoint of the same person as in Fig. 1. Bajo Juárez. 68
1.3 The lens of a camera pointing at the audience. Señorita Extraviada. 93
1.4 Young woman looking at the camera. Señorita Extraviada. 93
1.5 Young woman looking at the camera. Bajo Juárez. 94
1.6 Young man looking at the camera. Bajo Juárez. 94
2.1 Journalist Lauren (Jennifer Lopez). Bordertown. 123
2.2 Police officer Blanca (Ana de la Reguera). Traspatio. 124
2.3 Eva working at the Maquila. Bordertown. 129
2.4 The day Juanita arrived in Juarez. Traspatio. 129
2.5 Hilda giving her testimony. Traspatio. 129
2.6 Schoolgirl who is abducted by Mickey Santos. Traspatio 129
2.7 Paloma chatting at the school cafeteria. Espejo retrovisor. 129
2.8 Juana dancing with another man when Cudberto arrives. Traspatio. 131

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