The Borderlands of Culture: Américo Paredes and the Transnational Imaginary by Ramón Saldívar

This book uses the works of Américo Paredes as a test case to illustrate a transnational imaginary which creates a Greater Mexico on the North American continent. The first two chapters establish the theory of transculturation on which the book relies and give a history of Paredes in his own words. The following chapters, with more and less success, read Paredes's works in the larger cultural context to show this transnational imaginary at work. There were definitely points where I found myself wanting more attentive close readings, but I think this book is constructed in a very smart manner.