The Hispanic Image in Hollywood

Jorge J. Barrueto is Professor of Spanish at Walsh University. He earned his B.A. in comparative literature from Indiana University at Bloomington and completed his graduate work in Spanish and cultural studies at The State University of New York (MA/Binghamton and PhD/Albany). He has published articles on the representation of women and native people in Latin American literature and culture. His other research interests include postcolonial theory, colonial discourse, and film.

The Hispanic Image in Hollywood: A Postcolonial Approach offers an in-depth analysis of how Hispanics are represented in American cinema. Film production is a reflection of American historical processes that have defined Hispanics and American mainstream identity as oppositional forces in the domestic political establishment. Hispanic difference, as depicted in film, is understood as the by-product of Western philosophy, Western science, territorial expansion, colonialism and American nation building, wherein Hispanics have been identified as the antithetical, ubiquitous Other. More precisely, specific Hollywood films not only mirror American history but also a variety of political discourses that have defined Hispanic identity. Thematic categories of American history used to construct Hispanics reflect, in many ways, a deep-rooted, Eurocentric, colonial worldview. As the research of this book clearly shows, film depictions of Hispanics have created negative visual taxonomies based on gender, race, and class.

The Hispanic Image in Hollywood: A Postcolonial Approach offers an in-depth analysis of how Hispanics are represented in American cinema. As the research of this book clearly shows, film depictions of Hispanics have created negative visual taxonomies based on gender, race, and class.

Contents: The Making of Tony Montana - Hotel Maid in Manhattan - Latin American Geography in the Movies - Cinematic Humor and Difference - Contestation of the Colonial Past.