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From Conformity to Protest: The Evolution of Latinos in American Popular Culture, 1930s-1980s

de los Reyes, Vanessa
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8355-1075
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1505205872234436

Abstract Details

2017, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: History.
“From Conformity to Protest” examines the visual representations of Latinos in American popular culture—specifically in film, television, and advertising—from the 1930s through the early 1980s. It follows the changing portrayals of Latinos in popular culture and how they reflected the larger societal phenomena of conformity, the battle for civil rights and inclusion, and the debate over identity politics and cultural authenticity. It also explores how these images affected Latinos’ sense of identity, particularly racial and ethnic identities, and their sense of belonging in American society. This dissertation traces the evolution of Latinos in popular culture through the various cultural anxieties in the United States in the middle half of the twentieth century, including immigration, citizenship, and civil rights. Those tensions profoundly transformed the politics and social dynamics of American society and affected how Americans thought of and reacted to Latinos and how Latinos thought of themselves. This work begins in the 1930s when Latin Americans largely accepted portrayals of themselves as cultural stereotypes, but longed for inclusion as “white” Americans. The narrative of conformity continues through the 1950s as the middle chapters thematically and chronologically examine how mainstream cultural producers portrayed different Latino groups—including Chicanos (or Mexican Americans), Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. Popular culture portrayed Cubans, as exemplified by Ricky Ricardo on the television show I Love Lucy, as foreign, but able to easily assimilate because of class and race into mainstream, meaning “Anglo,” society. Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, however, fared worse as gang members and “illegals” and not acceptable participants in American society. These chapters also explore how Latinos reacted to those portrayals, which ranged from ambivalence, acceptance, disturbance, and, later, rage. As the U.S. moved to an era of seemingly greater equality and liberty in the post-World War II era, Latino groups demanded inclusion and social citizenship and openly rejected rhetoric and images that cast them as marginal and foreign. The latter chapters of this dissertation also analyze the inter-ethnic coalitions that participated in this transformation and the occupying tensions within such relationships. By the 1980s, Puerto Ricans and African Americans protested in the streets of New York City against demeaning portrayals, particularly of the film Fort Apache, The Bronx. These groups now demanded acceptance into American society as Americans and as culturally different. This new development not only caused a tension between cultural producers and consumers, but also among Latinos as they debated the appropriate or authentic way to portray their culture.
Stephen Porter, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Isaac Campos-Costero, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lilia Fernández, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
269 p.
American History
Latinos; Popular Culture; Civil Rights; Film; Television; Advertising

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • de los Reyes, V. (2017). From Conformity to Protest: The Evolution of Latinos in American Popular Culture, 1930s-1980s [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1505205872234436

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • de los Reyes, Vanessa. From Conformity to Protest: The Evolution of Latinos in American Popular Culture, 1930s-1980s. 2017. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1505205872234436.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • de los Reyes, Vanessa. "From Conformity to Protest: The Evolution of Latinos in American Popular Culture, 1930s-1980s." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1505205872234436

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1505205872234436
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.