Part I Ecocritical Theories of Culture and Literature

One central and actively discussed component of environmental discourses in Latin America is the tension between the stereotypical representation of indigenous cultures as essentialized ‘ecological natives,’ and the pragmatic possibilities the stereotype implies for indigenous social actors in the context of political struggles. The debate is constantly threatened by culminating into an ‘authenticity fallacy,’ which deprives indigenous communities of the possibility to position themselves in medialized global discourses as actors with recognized flexible political identities. In this context, Francesco Taboada Tabone’s documentary 13 Pueblos en defensa del agua, el aire y la tierra (2008) serves to illustrate how the imagery of indigenous ‘defenders of nature’ can be strategically employed in the particular circumstances of the joint resistance of several villages in the Mexican state of Morelos against governmental construction plans, to generate symbolic capital on regional, national, and transnational levels. The film merges an anti-neoliberal, Neozapatista argumentation with contemporary environmental discourse, dedicating special attention to the creation of an indigenous, communitarian, and ecologically sustainable identity. Nevertheless, the film transcends this ethnically and locally limited identity and converts it into a basis of identification available to non-indigenous anti-neoliberal movements on a broader scale. Key Terms: Authenticity fallacy, documentary film, ecological native, Francesco Taboada Tabone, indigenous identity, Latin America, Mexico, social movements 1 Latin American Environmental Discourse, Contemporary Literature and the Critique of Neoliberal Development Policies In the multiple and heterogeneous realities and modernities that coexist, overlap, and intertwine on the Latin American continent, environmental problems and concerns are treated in very different ways and forms, depending on the most diverse contexts. Ecological agendas in the megacities may contrast with those fought about in rural areas. The environmental challenges faced by the inhabitants of the US-Mexican border area might be distinguished from those of the Patagonian population, Hubert Zapf 9783110314595 Downloaded from PubFactory at 07/23/2016 02:25:03PM via ULB Bonn