Por Estas Calles de Interseccio'n: Representing Venezuela's Refugee Crisis (1999 to the Present)

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The Venezuelan exodus is now the second largest refugee crisis in the world (UNHCR, 2020). Yet, the available scholarship on the topic is very limited. Further, while the few critical studies that do exist-Troconis (2021), Lo'pez (2021) and Carrenno (2013)-can help to establish some characteristics of the diasporic political discourse, they rely heavily in their corpus on art and literature produced by a well-educated exile elite and their antagonistic attitudes towards the Chavista revolution. Studies on the Venezuelan migration have therefore failed to recognise complex cultural and political aspects into which the Chavista phenomenon have grown, as well as intersectional issues within the migration. Moreover, such analyses have generally failed to connect the Venezuelan experience with similar refugee crises-Iran, Syria-and global questions around citizenship and belonging. In contrast, this study will acknowledge gender, social and racial issues and include representations from outwith the canonical spaces of fine art and literature to reveal transnational ties beyond the debate around the revolution. Also, this thesis will contextualise the Venezuelan phenomenon within broader debates around migrant representation and refugee justice. What do representations of the Venezuelan migration tell us about Latin American politics and culture? What can these representations reveal about racialised attitudes towards migrants in Latin America and beyond? This interdisciplinary project, drawing on literature, aesthetics and digital culture, will analyse representations of the Venezuelan migration to identify diasporic narratives and reveal intersectional issues within the refugee crisis. Starting with a contextualisation of the exodus and then an examination of the manifestations produced by the Venezuelan exile elite, this study will later analyse the image of the caminante, particularly caminante women, who are usually depicted in melodramatic terms. Finally, the study will culminate with an exploration of queer subjectivity in Venezuelan digital culture in contrast to the binary dynamics present in representations of caminante women against the hypermasculinity of Cha'vez. This thesis will draw on Taylor's (2003) work, who offers methodological insights into the interdisciplinary analysis of performance, melodrama and art in Latin America, Mahieux's (2011) work on the Latin American genre of chronicle, and Clifford (1994), Gilroy (1993), and Bauboock & Faist's (2010) non-essentialist approaches to diaspora studies. By challenging social, racial and gender assumptions, this thesis will pave a wide, non-reductive path for future studies on the Venezuelan exodus and other migration crises. Similarly, by connecting the Venezuelan experience to other migratory phenomena, it will challenge Orientalist assumptions around refugee crises and asylum seekers. This research will therefore be relevant to anyone interested in migration studies, representation and intersectional issues; both within and outside the context of Latin American studies. Further, the here- proposed analysis could inform curatorial outputs around Venezuelan art and literature, and social engagement projects in the context of migrant communities; areas where I have strong professional connections and experience. Moreover, since very few of the studies on Venezuela have been produced in the UK, this project could cement the basis for better academic, political and cultural understanding of Venezuela in the UK.