Against alterity. The erosion of I/other dichotomy in «La pell de la frontera» (2014) by Francesc Serés

Abstract

In this paper, I reflect on the research of mechanisms of literary representation of cultural and economical difference that intend to erode the separation that justifies the I/Other dichotomy. I focus on the study of La pell de la frontera (2014) by Francesc Serés. This book contributed to the report of the plight of migrants and the government's inaction on the social, economical and demographic changes that affected many villages of Baix Cinca and Segrià. I hypothesize that Serés uses the representation of used objects and ruined landscapes to build a story about a difference that could erode the limits designed by the dichotomy I/Other. My paper is structured in three sections, where it is analyzed: a) the process of deplacement of the author's function, b) the use of used objects as a meeting point with an Other that is not represented as "the" Other, and c) the erosion of the identity of the author and of the representativeness of the other in a collective frame.