Contested Discourses on National Identity: Representing Nicaraguan Immigration to Costa Rica
Date
2004
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Abstract
This article explores the ways in which the immigration of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica is represented by Costa Rican institutions and individuals through public discourses and everyday life. Three discourses are considered. First, intellectual claims that immigration poses a threat to Costa Rican national identity, whereby intellectuals portray ‘Costa Rica in crisis’ due to immigration. Second, fictional works seek to represent issues regarding the Nicaraguan community in innovative ways, being open-ended and including diverse voices. Third, stories written by Nicaraguan children are discussed in view of exploring how hostility towards immigration interpellates them, who face the challenge of negotiating their identities with their peers in everyday life. The article ends by asking for a politics able to defend public institutions and public investment, able to forge networks of solidarity with immigrant communities.
Description
Keywords
Costa Rica, Inmigración, Identidades nacionales, Migrantes nicaragüenses, Políticas de representación, Subjetividad
Citation
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2004.00117.x