Critical Mystery Studies: When fact is scarier than fiction

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NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – On this episode of New Mexico Strange, News 13 Host and Anchor Chad Brummett sat down with the University of New Mexico's Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies' Matthew Goodwin, Ph.D., and Ashley Martinez, Ph.D. student, to talk about the connections between New Mexico's cultural roots and fantastical mysteries.
The two scholars explained how New Mexico's folktales and mysteries, like La Llorona and the Roswell UFO crash, are based on realistic fears and often come about as community members try to make sense of the things around them. Many of the state's stories are even thought to have spawned from the early days of colonization, when different societies came into contact for the first time and every side experienced surprising and, often, scary novelties.
Goodwin detailed how New Mexico got its nickname, the Land of Enchantment, when settlers and tourists used the word 'encanto' to describe the desert landscape. However, newcomers disregarding the depth of New Mexico's culture and, instead, perceiving it as exotic created an underlying negative connotation and a complicated relationship with that nickname.
On this episode of New Mexico Strange, Goodwin, Martinez, and Brummett discuss the idea of the desert as a space of spirituality, the connection between conspiracy theories and xenophobia, and how people of various cultures resonate with the stories or use them to pull further away from their fears. To find out more about the work being done with UNM's Critical Mystery Studies, click here.
New Mexico is perceived worldwide as a mecca for the extraordinary. Whether it's the healing soil of Chimayo, the haunted trails of the Old West, or visitors from the final frontier, our state is home to countless myths and mysteries. New Mexico Strange is KRQE News 13's online exclusive web series, celebrating our unique history and shedding light on the shadows of the unexplained, unexplored, and unknown. Hosted by Chad Brummett, New Mexico Strange takes viewers through some of the Land of Enchantment's most mysterious folklore and conspiracies.
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