WGS 115 PAPER ASSIGNMENT
THE HEGEMONIC NARRATIVE:
BORDER WAR AS THE SINGLE STORY
The documentary, Border War, which was produced by Citizens United, a politically conservative organization, illustrates one prominent—and very powerful—narrative about immigration. In the film, there are several individual narratives that produce a larger narrative that reflects and seems to affirm the dominant narrative as the “truth”
about not only immigrants but what it means to be an American subject. It seems to confirm what we, as the audience, already “know” about the topic and its subjects.
After watching the film, Border War (I recommend watching it several times), employ a poststructural approach in analyzing the film. How is it an artifact that articulates a dominant hegemonic narrative, a narrative that is literally “given-to-be-seen”?
While one perspective might be that this film presents the “truth,” the narrative that film presents is only possible through several narrative techniques:
1) by selecting and accepting particular stories as universal fact
2) by eliminating, excluding, and erasing facts through the editing process that are inconsistent, inconvenient, and/or contradictory with their narrative; and
3) by appealing to naturalized and normative understandings
Each of these three techniques are gendered (masculinity and femininity), racialized, and classed processes. Using this film as a cultural artifact, how does the film produce the “truth” about immigration/immigrants by employing gender, race, class, etc. Illustrate using at least three examples.
The movie can be found on snagfilms.com
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