Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s debut novel Catalina delivers a timely take on the campus novel, a genre that rose to prominence in the post-World War II era, particularly in the U.S. and U.K., as access to higher education expanded and academia became more influential in society. Campus novels typically use academic settings as microcosms to explore social dynamics, often portraying universities as “ivory towers” detached from everyday life yet brimming with internal dramas and contradictions. Themes like the clash between idealism and pragmatism, generational divides, and the pressures of academic politics frequently feature in the campus novel genre.
Recent campus novels reflect the changing landscape of higher education, tackling issues like rising tuition, student activism, and racial diversity. Like others in the genre, Catalina explores these contemporary concerns while delving into the ideological conflicts and tensions that exist between personal ideals and institutional constraints. Cornejo Villavicencio refreshes the genre by examining immigration on both a personal and national level—her protagonist Catalina Ultruade, a senior at Harvard University, faces the ironic predicament of preparing to graduate from one of the world’s most prestigious institutions yet being unable to secure employment due to her undocumented status.
Injecting wry inferences and biting social commentary, staples of her 2020 nonfiction debut The Undocumented Americans, the author draws from her own life in this work of autofiction. Like Catalina, the author immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador as a young child, grew up in New York City, and graduated from Harvard in 2011. The first-person narrative provides intimate access to Catalina’s thoughts and perspectives, which are peppered with dry wit, dark humor, and incisive observations of her family, peers, scholars, celebrities, and politicians.
The novel also explores the performative nature of being undocumented and a person of color at an elite institution. Catalina often refers to “remembering my lines” or trying to “recall the script” when trying to navigate others’ preconceived notions about her identity. In ways big and small, Catalina struggles to preserve her dignity in a system that promotes “invisibility by design.” Beyond Catalina’s personal challenges, the narrative broadens to address national issues, including the years-long political battle over the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, the centuries-long implications and violence of colonization, the access and privilege of wealthy U.S. citizens, and more. Cornejo Villavicencio reminds readers that “the violence in our lives was an accumulation of many indignities over time.”
Catalina doesn’t shy away from exploring the harsh realities of life as an undocumented immigrant—limited access to healthcare, social services, employment, and retirement benefits—within a labyrinthine immigration system designed to restrict pathways to citizenship. Throughout the novel, Catalina grapples with loss, abandonment, and mental health concerns and how these issues are compounded by her immigration status and that of her undocumented grandparents. She refers to a lifelong self-harm ideation, like repeatedly stepping into oncoming traffic as a young girl in Ecuador and, years later, leaping from her boyfriend’s moving car during an argument. She fantasizes about other forms of self-destructive and harmful behaviors and reflects candidly about these experiences.
Cornejo Villavicencio’s unflinching portrayal creates a complex and vivid portrait of a young woman who rejects conventional tropes of resilience, fragility, and conformity often ascribed to undocumented persons. Catalina isn’t always likable—she is indignant, dismissive of social norms, provocative, and prone to questionable decisions. Yet these traits enhance her authenticity, challenging the “model minority” stereotype.
With clever nuance and acerbic humor, Cornejo Villavicencio’s Catalina thoughtfully confronts the inherent violence behind crafted national narratives about who “deserves” access and opportunity in the United States.
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