Explorations of Border-Crossing Identity through Dreamscape in Frontera

Authors

• Mariela Speltz, Murray State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This analysis examines how Frontera, a graphic novel that follows a young man as he attempts to cross the Sonoran Desert to return to Arizona after being deported, draws upon the mythologically-rich space of the desert to create a dreamscape that explores Mexican-American identity. Featuring visual differentiation, cultural icons, and spiritual figures that interact with the main character, Mateo, the text’s dreamscape serves as a narrative bridge for characters to transcend their individual identity and connect with a communal identity. Specifically, a spiritual jaguar from Aztec mythology, and the ghost of an immigrant who died crossing the desert help Mateo reconcile with his evolving Mexican-American identity and sense of community. This research draws on the work of comics scholar Mark Di Paolo, who conceives of comics as a cultural marker of American identity that reacts to the social environment of the time, and Latinx comics scholar Frederick Luis Aldama, whose research highlights the rise in well-developed and complex depictions of Latinx identity in comics in recent decades. Read in conjunction with these scholarly perspectives, Frontera may be understood to react to a contemporary society in which the modern political environment threatens the deeply felt American identities of undocumented immigrants. By using dreamscape to explore Mateo’s shifting identity throughout his deportation and border-crossing, and showcasing a variety of trans-cultural identities through the dreamscape’s spiritual figures, Frontera depicts an interconnected, multi-cultural identity for both the main character and contemporary U.S. society.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Speltz, Mariela (2025) "Explorations of Border-Crossing Identity through Dreamscape in Frontera," Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/steeplechase/vol9/iss1/10

References

Aldama, Frederick Luis, Frank Espinosa, et al. Graphic Borders: Latino Comic Books Past, Present, and Future. University of Texas Press, 2021.

Aldama, Frederick Luis, et al. Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics. The University of Arizona Press, 2017.

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Anta, Julio, and Jacoby Salcedo. Frontera. HarperAlley, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2023.

Cisneros, Josue David. The Border Crossed Us: Rhetorics of Borders, Citizenship, and Latina/o Identity. The University of Alabama Press, 2014.

DiPaolo, Marc. War, Politics and Superheroes: ethics and propaganda in comics and film. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2018.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: the invisible art. New York, William Morrow, 1994.