230629 "From Bananas to Buttocks:" Latin@ Images (S) (WiSe 2008/2009)

Currently the fastest growing minority in the U.S.A. and soon to be the majority population in California, Latin@s are increasingly prominent in the U.S. American cultural landscape. This course will examine the power of images and the politics of labelling concerning Latin@s (diverse people also called Hispanics) with an emphasis on film, videos and advertisement. With the help of older and more recent theoretical texts, we will trace how essential latinidad has been embodied in U.S. American marketing and entertainment in order to control and monitor a growing constituency of over 40 million people. The course will also take a look at self fashioning attempts by Latin@s to reclaim a contingent latinidad which is dependent on social praxis and lived reality.