Rebecca Schreiber, UNM assistant professor of American Studies, will sign copies her new book, “Cold War Exiles in Mexico: U.S. Dissidents and the Culture of Critical Resistance,” on Thursday, Dec. 4, 4-5 p.m. at the Faculty/Staff Club, 1923 Las Lomas NE. The UNM Bookstore will make copies of the book available.
The onset of the Cold War in the 1940s and 1950s precipitated the exile of many U.S. writers, artists and filmmakers to Mexico. Schreiber illuminates the work of these cultural exiles in Mexico City and Cuernavaca and reveals how their artistic collaborations formed a vital and effective culture of resistance.
As Schreiber recounts, the first exiles to arrive in Mexico after World War II were visual artists, many of them African-American, including Elizabeth Catlett, Charles White and John Wilson. Individuals who were blacklisted from the Hollywood film industry, such as Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler, followed these artists, as did writers, including Willard Motley. Schreiber examines the artists’ work with the printmaking collective Taller de Gráfica Popular and the screenwriters’ collaborations with filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel, as well as the influence of the U.S. exiles on artistic and political movements.
Schreiber received her master’s degree and doctorate in American studies at Yale University. She taught at Yale and Columbia University prior to coming to UNM. Her work has appeared in several publications.
In the UNM Department of American Studies, she serves as director of undergraduate studies. She is also president of the Rocky Mountain American Studies Association.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1590; e-mail: michal@unm.edu