Part III: Histories

Chapters in the Histories section provide a brief overview of the historical experience of distinct national-origin communities in the United States and trace the various ways these experiences have been mediated through film, broadcasting, and digital media. Chapter 9 surveys how representations of Latinos shifted over time between the introduction of cinema in the late nineteenth century and the 1950s and overviews how Latinx viewers responded to those representations. Chapter 10 examines Spanish-language television and the concept of pan-latinidad, noting how media have contributed to shaping a “Latin” population in the United States. Chapter 11 considers the Mexican-American experience in film and provides three case studies of representation of Mexican-Americans on screen. Chapter 12 provides an introduction to Puerto Rican media in the latter half of the twentieth century to the present, focusing on cinema and exploring media-making on the island, in the US and between both locations. Chapter 13 provides a historic overview of the Cuban-American experience onscreen from the late nineteenth century to the present. Chapter 14 discusses the Dominican-American experience onscreen, which has served as an important art form to counter the invisibility of Dominicans in United States as well as show fluid portraits of this community. Chapter 15 discusses Central American experiences onscreen and calls attention to the ways media can (mis)represent this diverse population.

After completing this section, students should be able to:

• Identify specific strategies and artistic traditions in Latinx film and media
• Identify key moments in the history of Latinos/as/x presence in the United States and describe how these histories are represented in film and visual culture
• Identify the driving forces of migration from Latin America to, from, and within the United States (or, in the case of Puerto Rico, to the mainland)