Tropicalizations: Transcultural Representations of Latinidad (Re-Encounters With Colonialism)

About this book

Tropicalization as the editors define it "means to trope to imbue a particular space geography group or nation with a set of traits images and values" that are circulated and perpetuated through official texts history literature and the media. With bold strokes this collection outlines how dominant Anglo cultures have through traditional colonizing discourses constructed Latin American and Latinas/os in the US. It also examines how Latina/o writers and artists have internalized appropriated and transformed these hegemonic definitions. Focusing on literary and aesthetic production essays explore topics such as the imbalance of power in the trans-cultural relationship gender-based myths about Latin America and Latina/o sexuality tensions inherent in contact zones between cultures and the tropicalization of Cuba from within the US.