Jennifer Reimer (University of Graz, Austria)
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
10 a.m.-12 noon
P 109a (Philosophicum)
Transa may originate in Tijuana, but like so many Tijuanese, it is a mobile, border-crossing word. In transa, we hear the echo not only of transaction but also of transnational, transboundary, and many other concepts that have become increasingly popular in cultural studies of the Americas. Transa describes alternate forms of borderlands representation that are ‘transa-national’ and ‘transa-genre.’ Drawing on Montezemolo, Peralta and Yépez’s use of transa, in this chapter, I explore the varied potential of transa as an alternative border encounter—an approach that theorizes how transactions between the material realities of the US-Mexico borderlands and innovative aesthetics (form) produce experimental, transnational cultural texts.
Jennifer Reimer is a Lise Meitner Postdoctoral Fellow (American Studies) at the University of Graz, Austria. Previously Assistant Professor in the Department of American Culture and Literature at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, Dr Reimer received her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011, and her MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco in 2005. She is the 2011 winner of the Gloria E. Anzaldúa Award for Independent Scholars, awarded by the Women’s Committee of the American Studies Association. Her first prose poetry book, The Rainy Season Diaries, was released in 2013 by Quale Press. She is the co-founder and co-editor of Achiote Press, an independent press dedicated to spotlighting underrepresented authors and artists.
You can download the poster for the event here.