Latina/o Communication Studies Today

The Editor: Angharad N. Valdivia is Research Professor at the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois. She has written extensively on Latina/o Media Studies and has authored and edited many books including A Latina in the Land of Hollywood and Other Essays on Media Culture (2000), Feminism, Multiculturalism and the Media: Global Diversities (1995), and A Companion to Media Studies (2005).

• Contents: Angharad N. Valdivia: Is My Butt Your Island? The Myth of Discovery and Contemporary Latina/o Communication Studies – Mary Beltrán: When Dolores Del Rio Became Latina: Latina/o Stardom in Hollywood’s Transition to Sound – Mari Castañeda: The Importance of Spanish-Language and Latino Media – Bernadette Marie Calafell: Performing the Responsible Sponsor: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Immigration Post-9/11 – Shane T. Moreman: Hybrid Performativity, South and North of the Border: Entre la teoría y la materialidad de hibridación – Isabel Molina Guzmán: Policing the Latina/o Other: Latinidad in Prime-Time News Coverage of the Elián González Story – Katynka Z. Martínez: Real Women and Their Curves: Letters to the Editor and a Magazine’s celebration of the «Latina Body» – Dolores Inés Casillas: A Morning Dose of Latino Masculinity: U.S. Spanish-language Radio and the Politics of Gender – Lucila Vargas: Media Practices and Gendered Identity among Transnational Latina Teens – David González Hernández: Watching Over the Border: A Case Study of the Mexico-U.S. Television and Youth Audience – María Elena Cepeda: Survival Aesthetics: U.S. Latinas and the Negotiation of Popular Media – Jillian M. Báez: Mexican (American) Women Talk Back: Audience Responses to Latinidad in U.S. Advertising.

«This dynamic and brilliant group of scholars embrace a variety of topics and approaches. All chapters stand out for the nuanced, sophisticated and original analyses of Latinos and Latinas as objects, subjects, and audiences of media. Undoubtedly, this collection will be part of the academic canon for years to come.» (Frances R. Aparicio, Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, University of Illinois at Chicago; Author of ‘Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music, and Puerto Rican Cultures’)«This book is a ‘must read’ for anyone seriously interested in the future of communication in the United States and beyond. It makes a substantial contribution by identifying and analyzing key complexities of Latinos and communication. All of this gives us a better handle on where we have been, where we are, and where we may be going.» (Felix F. Gutierrez, University of Southern California)