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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze one of the conflicts that impacted the reality of the Guatemalan Maya farmers: their migration towards the United States. To carry it out, this article examines the movie El Norte (1983) directed by Gregory Nava, which captures, in a subjective way, the tragic itinerary of several Guatemalan Migrants, whose exodus was marked by stories of sacrifice and struggle. They became secondary characters of the contemporary global world. Methodologically, the article uses a Neo-historicist approach for delving into the way in which the dialogues between the main characters, their displacements, and the geopolitical context of the script allow the movie to become an instrument for debating about the complicated situation of Guatemalan migrants in the United States. This study leads to the conclusion that the protagonists’ itinerary, Enrique and Rosa, has a tragic connotation because their exodus is carried out through people who introduce them to the sinister world of illegality and, as a result, they become invisible individuals of the American society.
References
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