This dissertation addresses the challenges of translating the Contemporary Mexican crónica from Spanish into English. The crónica, being a type of nonfiction literature and possessing unique features particularly with regards to its ability to be read like a novel, presents distinctive challenges in translation. This dissertation looks closely at the particularities of translating Elena Poniatowska’s Amanecer en el Zócalo (Mexico: Planeta, 2007), a crónica based on the 2006 federal election in Mexico and the subsequent civil resistance movement inspired by the outcome. This dissertation addresses questions surrounding the translation of the crónica: What challenges are unique in translating this genre and why? Why are there so few crónicas translated into English? What decisions can the translator make in order to resolve these particular difficulties? In order to attempt to answer these questions, I first looked into the genre of the crónica and attempted to situate it within the Mexican system of literature and culture. The result found was that, based on some recent theories of systems in culture and translation, the crónica, as a genre of literature that always seeks to address current issues in society and foster positive social development, is in itself a vehicle for social change. I then looked at other crónicas that have been translated into English and compared other translators’ decisions to the ones I made—or have yet to make—within my own translation of Poniatowska’s text. Finally, in observing the ways in which the translator of the crónica tends to alter the genre of the text in translation, I showed how the text, in English, loses some of the defining characteristics of the crónica and serves a different purpose in the target culture—it educates the reader on past (and present) social issues in other cultures, and it appeals to a different type of audience in the target culture—it attracts readers interested in studying another culture rather than readers who feel an intimate connection with the crónica’s context.

This dissertation addresses the challenges of translating the Contemporary Mexican crónica from Spanish into English. The crónica, being a type of nonfiction literature and possessing unique features particularly with regards to its ability to be read like a novel, presents distinctive challenges in translation. This dissertation looks closely at the particularities of translating Elena Poniatowska’s Amanecer en el Zócalo (Mexico: Planeta, 2007), a crónica based on the 2006 federal election in Mexico and the subsequent civil resistance movement inspired by the outcome. This dissertation addresses questions surrounding the translation of the crónica: What challenges are unique in translating this genre and why? Why are there so few crónicas translated into English? What decisions can the translator make in order to resolve these particular difficulties? In order to attempt to answer these questions, I first looked into the genre of the crónica and attempted to situate it within the Mexican system of literature and culture. The result found was that, based on some recent theories of systems in culture and translation, the crónica, as a genre of literature that always seeks to address current issues in society and foster positive social development, is in itself a vehicle for social change. I then looked at other crónicas that have been translated into English and compared other translators’ decisions to the ones I made—or have yet to make—within my own translation of Poniatowska’s text. Finally, in observing the ways in which the translator of the crónica tends to alter the genre of the text in translation, I showed how the text, in English, loses some of the defining characteristics of the crónica and serves a different purpose in the target culture—it educates the reader on past (and present) social issues in other cultures, and it appeals to a different type of audience in the target culture—it attracts readers interested in studying another culture rather than readers who feel an intimate connection with the crónica’s context.

This dissertation addresses the challenges of translating the Contemporary Mexican crónica from Spanish into English. The crónica, being a type of nonfiction literature and possessing unique features particularly with regards to its ability to be read like a novel, presents distinctive challenges in translation. This dissertation looks closely at the particularities of translating Elena Poniatowska’s Amanecer en el Zócalo (Mexico: Planeta, 2007), a crónica based on the 2006 federal election in Mexico and the subsequent civil resistance movement inspired by the outcome. This dissertation addresses questions surrounding the translation of the crónica: What challenges are unique in translating this genre and why? Why are there so few crónicas translated into English? What decisions can the translator make in order to resolve these particular difficulties? In order to attempt to answer these questions, I first looked into the genre of the crónica and attempted to situate it within the Mexican system of literature and culture. The result found was that, based on some recent theories of systems in culture and translation, the crónica, as a genre of literature that always seeks to address current issues in society and foster positive social development, is in itself a vehicle for social change. I then looked at other crónicas that have been translated into English and compared other translators’ decisions to the ones I made—or have yet to make—within my own translation of Poniatowska’s text. Finally, in observing the ways in which the translator of the crónica tends to alter the genre of the text in translation, I showed how the text, in English, loses some of the defining characteristics of the crónica and serves a different purpose in the target culture—it educates the reader on past (and present) social issues in other cultures, and it appeals to a different type of audience in the target culture—it attracts readers interested in studying another culture rather than readers who feel an intimate connection with the crónica’s context.

This dissertation addresses the challenges of translating the Contemporary Mexican crónica from Spanish into English. The crónica, being a type of nonfiction literature and possessing unique features particularly with regards to its ability to be read like a novel, presents distinctive challenges in translation. This dissertation looks closely at the particularities of translating Elena Poniatowska’s Amanecer en el Zócalo (Mexico: Planeta, 2007), a crónica based on the 2006 federal election in Mexico and the subsequent civil resistance movement inspired by the outcome. This dissertation addresses questions surrounding the translation of the crónica: What challenges are unique in translating this genre and why? Why are there so few crónicas translated into English? What decisions can the translator make in order to resolve these particular difficulties? In order to attempt to answer these questions, I first looked into the genre of the crónica and attempted to situate it within the Mexican system of literature and culture. The result found was that, based on some recent theories of systems in culture and translation, the crónica, as a genre of literature that always seeks to address current issues in society and foster positive social development, is in itself a vehicle for social change. I then looked at other crónicas that have been translated into English and compared other translators’ decisions to the ones I made—or have yet to make—within my own translation of Poniatowska’s text. Finally, in observing the ways in which the translator of the crónica tends to alter the genre of the text in translation, I showed how the text, in English, loses some of the defining characteristics of the crónica and serves a different purpose in the target culture—it educates the reader on past (and present) social issues in other cultures, and it appeals to a different type of audience in the target culture—it attracts readers interested in studying another culture rather than readers who feel an intimate connection with the crónica’s context.

thresh-old noun `thresh-`hold, `thre-`shold _the sill of a doorway _the entrance to a house or building _any place or point of entering or beginning A threshold can be understood as the visible or invisible division and demarcation of space. It is an age-old concept tracing back even to the first notions of urban space. The largest scaled gestures of thresholds are those lines and walls that divide nations and territories. All complexities of past and current geopolitical tensions simply derive from the interpretations and implementation of the walls and geopolitical lines—or lineaments. It is therefore crucial to comprehend the concept of lineaments on every scale, as it is the base idea that permeates all design. It is design in its purest form. The following architectural argument will explore Leon Battista Albert's theory of lineaments, particularly the wall as an architectural element, as he spells out in his architectural treatise On the Art of Building in Ten Books. A closer look at Alberti's treatise and the idea of lineaments will help to better refine the definition and implementation of international borders and treatises. Reconsideration of a lineament in the slightest form has the potential to drastically change the execution and enforcement of a lineament in tangible materials and their assembly during construction. The chosen design proposes a new U.S.-Mexico Joint Land Port of Entry along the border of Columbus, New Mexico, United State of America, and Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico / Master of Architecture