Resumen de Companion species in border crossings: “Mediodía De Frontera” by Claudia Hernández
In Mesoamerican cultures, dogs occupied a central role for daily prac;ces, spiritual rituals, and mythological configura;ons. Pre-Columbian socie;es valued canine figures as companion species capable of guiding souls during their journey into the underworld. Dogs were perceived as nonhuman en;;es with a powerful connec;on to death, capable of taming darkness. In this ar;cle, I analyze the way in which the role of dogs as companion species in harsh journeys has been reformulated in the short story “Mediodía de frontera” (2007) by Salvadoran author Claudia Hernández. Through the analysis of interac;ons between a stray dog and a tongueless woman that meet at a border crossing, I study how the story challenges ontological boundaries without erasing each species’ specificity
