A library catalog search for the terms “borderland” and “Portuguese” yields sources addressing contested identities and political boundaries. The borderlands addressed in the exhibit titled, Borderlands Reinvented and Revisited: Portuguese Language Literature in Print and Image,” refer to material types rather than political demarcations. The exhibit is now on display in the Hertzstein Latin American Gallery at University Libraries through May 15, 2015. 

As texts and authors cross over the borders of traditional print, they challenge taxonomies between high and low culture. This inversion is visible in historic developments of the Latin American Collections at the University of New Mexico.

UNM has long invested in Portuguese-language literature, mostly from Brazil. In the process, the library has amassed many titles, multiple editions, and several translations of canonical and lesser known Portuguese-language authors and critics.

Curated by graduate student Viviane Faria and Assistant Professor Suzanne Schadl, a few of those texts appear in this exhibit alongside derivations in chapbooks (also called cordéis and cartoneras), graphic novels and films. These so-called popular formats have become an important part of UNM’s special collections, which document community action, visual reference, and popular literacy.

For more information on the exhibit, visit: Borderland Reinvented and Revisited.