Continental shifts : migration, representation, and the struggle for justice in Latin(o) America / John D. "Rio" Riofrio.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Riofrio, John D., 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hispanic Americans in mass media.

Hispanic Americans--Ethnic identity.

Hispanic Americans.

Hispanic Americans--Social conditions.

Latin America--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

Latin America.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (215 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin, Texas : University of Texas Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Applying a broad geographical approach to comparative Latino literary and cultural studies, Continental Shifts illuminates how the discursive treatment of Latinos changed dramatically following the enactment of NAFTA—a shift exacerbated by 9/11. While previous studies of immigrant representation have focused on single regions (the US/Mexico border in particular), specific genres (literature vs. political rhetoric), or individual groups, Continental Shifts unites these disparate discussions in a provocative, in-depth examination. Bringing together a wide range of groups and genres, this intercultural study explores novels by Latin American and Latino writers, a border film by Tommy Lee Jones and Guillermo Arriaga, “viral” videos of political speeches, popular television programming (particularly shows that feature incarceration and public shaming), and user-generated YouTube videos. These cultural products reveal the complexity of Latino representations in contemporary discourse. While tropes of Latino migrants as threatening, diseased foreign bodies date back to the nineteenth century, Continental Shifts marks the more pernicious, recent images of Latino laborers (legal and not) in a variety of contemporary media. Using vivid examples, John Riofrio demonstrates the connections between rhetorical and ideological violence and the physical and psychological violence that has more intensely plagued Latino communities in recent decades. Culminating with a consideration of the “American” identity, this eye-opening work ultimately probes the nation’s ongoing struggle to uphold democratic ideals amid dehumanizing multiethnic tension.

Contents:

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Hemispheric Latinidades: Migrating Bodies and the Blurred Borders of Latino Identities; 2. Dirty Politics of Representation: Dehumanizing Discourse, Latinidad, and the Struggle for Self-Ascribed Ethnic Identity; 3. Spectacles of Incarceration: Biopolitics, Public Shaming, and the Pornography of Prisons; 4. Latinos in a Post-9/11 Moment: "American" Identity and the Public Latino Body; Epilogue; Notes; Works Cited; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4773-0540-8

OCLC:

1286806421