Transformation of the Latino image in Western culture (based on the analysis of American mass media)
https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2020-2-4-28-42
Abstract
With rapid development of Latino communities and their members’s active involvement in the US social and political life the attitudes toward Latinos (Hispanics) have changed, both from the outside and the inside. The Latino people themselves came to realize their self-identification and, consecutively, the portrayal of Latinos in the media has been altered. In this paper the author argues, that the range of Latino stereotypes has become wider today and that the model that used to work decades ago in picturing Latino migrants is no longer relevant. Thus, the main goal of the study is to mark out and describe the changes that have occurred in the US media regarding the images of ‘Latinos’ (/Latinas). Comparative analysis is the key method in addition to the content analysis of media publications. The empirical basis consists of 80 publications, including digital media footage, published in 2016-2020 (both in English and Spanish languages) – such as the New York Times, The Time, The Washington Post, El Opinion, etc. These newspapers and magazines are considered to be highly influential as they set the agenda, shape the opinion and affect public consciousness. The material of the study also comprises 20 TV episodes related to the coverage of Hispanic issues in the USA. Having analyzed the media content related to the Latino issue (mainstream media, online sources, TV footage), the author comes to a conclusion that the number of roles that are attributed to the Latinos/Latinas has increased significantly and the today’s narrative to a larger degree is aligned with the changes occurring in real life of the Latino community.
About the Author
E. S. Golousova
Ural Federal University named after the first president B.N. Yeltsin
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elizaveta S. Golousova
Ekaterinburg
References
1. A Conversation with Latinos on Race. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLLCHbCgJbM (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
2. Abraído-Lanza, A.F., Florez, K., & Eccheveria, S. (2016). Latino Immigrants, Acculturation, and Health: Promising New Directions in Research. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5337110 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
3. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vs Ivanka Trump. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLkhRmgvcYc (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
4. All about Aleksandria Ocasio-Cortez. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/all-about-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-who-beatcrowley-in-ny-dem-primary-2018-6 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
5. America Latina Theme Study. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/heritageinitiatives/latino/latinothemestudy/immigration.htm (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
6. Arce, J. (2020). It’s Long Past Time we Recognized all the Latinos Killed at the Hands of Police. By Julissa, July 21, 2020. Retrieved from: https://time.com/5869568/latinospoliceviolence/#:~:text=As%20of%20June%209%2C%20according,have%20been%20killed%20since%202015 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
7. Avila-Saavedra, G. (2011). Ethnic Otherness versus Cultural Assimilation: U.S. Latino Comedians and the Politics of Identity. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15205431003650478 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
8. Bender, S. (2003). Greasers and Gringos. Latinos Laws and the America Imagination. New York, London: New York University Press.
9. Cones, J. (2012). Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies. New York: Algora publishing.
10. Cottle, S. (2000). Ethnic Minorities & the Media: Changing Cultural Boundaries. Philadelphia: Open University Pres.
11. Dijk, T. van. (2006). Ideology and Discourse. Ideology and Discourse Analysis. Journal of Political Ideologies, 2, 115-140.
12. Etzioni, A. Don’t ‘’Brown’’ the Hispanics. Niemen Report. Retrieved from https://niemanreports.org/authors/amitai-etzioni (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
13. Gamboa, S., & Cahlan, S. (2018). Young Latinos: Born in the U.S.A., Carving their own Identity. NBC News Latino. Retrieved from https://cdce.umd.edu/news/directorsbook-mentioned-nbc-news-latino-article (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
14. Gutierrez, R. (2016). The New Latino Studies Reader: A Twenty-First-Century Perspective. University of California Press.
15. Hayes-Bautista, D.E. (2012). El cinco de Mayo. An American Tradition. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
16. Hegde, S. (2016). Mediating Migration. European Journal of Communication, 31(4), 491-491.
17. Here is the State of Hispanic Media Today and where it Goes from Here. Retrieved from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/heres-the-state-of-hispanic-media-todayand-where-it-goes-from-here (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
18. Hispanic and Latino Identity is Changing. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/16/how-fluid-is-racialidentity/hispanic-and-latino-identity-is-disappearing (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
19. Hollywood Has the Power to Combat Damaging Stereotypes about Latinos. Here’s Proof that it’s Utterly Failing. Retrieved from https://time.com/5662739/latinohollywood-representation (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
20. Inmigrante hispano estuvo detenido casi un año por ICE, pero fue liberado con “green card” en mano [A Hispanic immigrant was detained by ICE for almost a year and given freedom with a green card in his hand]. Retrieved from https://laopinion.com/2020/08/06/inmigrante-hispano-estuvo-detenido-casi-un-anopor-ice-pero-fue-liberado-con-green-card-en-mano (accessed: 15 August, 2020) (in Spanish).
21. Latinos and the Future of American politics. Retrieved from https://prospect.org/civil-rights/latinos-future-american-politics (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
22. Latino Representation in Hollywood Movies is Abysmal. Here’s the Proof. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-08-26/uscinclusion-study-latinx-representation-movies (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
23. Lopez, J. (2015). “Impossible Families”: Mixed-citizenship Status Couples and the Law. Law and Policy, 37(1-2), 93-118.
24. Lopez, M., Gonzalez-Barrera, A., & Krogstadt, J. (2018). More Latinos Have Serious Concerns about their Place in America under Trump. Retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/10/25/more-latinos-have-seriousconcerns-about-their-place-in-america-under-trump/ (Accessed: 15 August, 2020).
25. Meet the Woman Who Gave ‘One Day at a Time’ its Bicultural, Latino Flavor. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/meet-woman-who-gave-oneday-time-its-bicultural-latino-n711476 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
26. Mettler, K. (2020). More Black and Latino Officers Allege Systematic Discrimination in the St. George police department. The Washington Post.
27. Molina-Guzman, I. (2010). Dangerous Curves: Latina Bodies in the Media. New York: New York University Press.
28. Negrón-Muntaner F., Abbas C., Figueroa L., & Robson, S. The Latino Media Gap: Report on the State of Latinos in the U.S. Media. Retrieved from: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/7522909797.pdf (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
29. Ocasio-Cortez and Democrats Assail Men’s Abusive Treatment of Women. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-23/ocasio-cortez-demsassail-mens-abusive-treatment-of-women (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
30. Ramos, J. (2020). Can a Latina Girl Dream of Being President of the United States? Retrieved from https://jorgeramos.com/en/can-a-latina-girl-dream-of-being-presidentof-the-united-states/amp/ (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
31. Retis, J. (2006). The Portrayal of Latin American Immigrants in the Spanish Mainstream Media: Fear of Compassion? International Journal of Hispanic Media, 9 Retrieved from https://www.internationalhispanicmedia.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/11/IJHM_Vol9-Portrayl.pdf (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
32. Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Pieper, K., Clark, H. et al. Latinos in Film: Erasure On Screen & Behind the Camera. Retrieved from http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-studylatinos-in-film-2019.pdf (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
33. Smithsonian Museums are Supposed to Tell the American Story. So Where’s the One Dedicated to Latinos? Retrieved from https://time.com/5700102/american-latinomuseum-smithsonian/ (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
34. These are the Voters who could Decide the Election. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/opinion/latino-voters-2020-election.html (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
35. Vargas, L., & De Pussler, B. Using Media Literacy to Explore Stereotypes of Mexican Immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/publications/se/6207/620704.html (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
36. Views of Immigrations Policy. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/10/25/views-of-immigration-policy (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
37. Washington Post’ Promise Major Changes to Move forward on Race. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020theUS/06/18/880636515/new-york-timeswashington-post-announce-major-changes-to-move-forward-on-race/ (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
38. Who is Aleksandria Ocasio-Cortez. Retrieved from https://hnmagazine.com/2018/06/who-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
39. Young Latinos: Born in the U.S.A., Carving their own Identity. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/young-latinos-born-u-s-carving-their-ownidentity-n908086 (accessed: 15 August, 2020).
Review
For citations:
Golousova E.S. Transformation of the Latino image in Western culture (based on the analysis of American mass media). Professional Discourse & Communication. 2020;2(4):28-42. https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2020-2-4-28-42
Email this article 