Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz? (Race, Rites, and Rhetoric: Colors, Cultures, and Communication) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0739146483 ISBN 13: 9780739146484

Publisher: Lexington Books, 2011

Synopsis

Taking up the charge to study discourses of marginalized groups, while simultaneously extending scholarship about Latina/os in the field of Communication, Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz? provides the most current work examining the vernacular voices of Latina/os. The editors of this diverse collection structure the book along four topics―Locating Foundations, Citizenship and Belonging, The Politics of Self-Representation, and Trans/National Voces―that are guided by the organizing principle of voz/voces [voice/voces]. Voz/voces resonates not only in intellectual endeavors but also in public arenas in which perceptions of Latina/os' being of one voice circulate. The study of voz/voces proceeds from a variety of sites including cultural myth, social movement, music, testimonios, a website, and autoethnographic performance. By questioning and addressing the politics of voz/voces, the essays collectively underscore the complexity that shapes Latina/o multivocality. Ultimately, the contours of Latina/o vernacular expressions call attention to the ways that these unique communities continue to craft identities that transform social understandings of who Latina/os are, to engage in forms of resistance that alter relations of power, and to challenge self- and dominant representations.

About this title

About the Author:

Michelle A. Holling is associate professor of communication at California State University San Marcos.

Bernadette M. Calafell is associate professor of communication at the University of Denver.

Review:

Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz?is a diverse, interdisciplinary collection of essays providing insights into scholarship on Latina/o communication. . . .The essays provide a wide-reaching, interdisciplinary contribution to Latina/o studies. . . .The volume provides a rich resource of theoretical, methodological and critical lessons for readers of Latino Studies interested in Latina/o 'voices. (Latino Studies)

Holling and Calafell’s volume shows a subtle awareness of an ‘ethnography of speaking’ in its analysis of how Latin@ identity is constructed or contested discursively in multimodal ways and in a variety of settings. Indeed, anyone interested in inquiring more about how identity discourse both frames and is framed by economic processes, cultural histories, (trans-)national politics, as well as meta-pragmatically in everyday interactions by those performing ethnic identities, will find this book to be an intriguing introduction to LVD as a critical lens for such inquiries. (Discourse & Society)

Are we of one voice? Could we be? Should we be? Why would we want to be? These are the underlying and nagging questions that scholars of Latina/o communication and discourse wrestle with as part of the very nature of the topic. Holling and Calafell have gathered a collection of essays and suggested sources that will facilitate the inclusion of this rich area of inquiry into both the traditional communication classroom, as well as specialized courses designed to analyze and critique Latina/o discourse. (Sarah Amira de la Garza, Arizona State University)

An excellent anthology. Holling and Calafell have put together a highly coherent collection of essays that establish a significant foundation for the next generation of Latina/o scholarship in communication studies. Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces will be of tremendous value to scholars and students interested in contemporary Latina/o discursive practices. (Fernando Delgado, University of Wisconsin, River Falls)

Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz?'s eclectic perspectives and commitment to problematizing rather than canonizing its discourse are the volume's strengths. This book is an invaluable source of cutting-edge research on the rhetorical histories and possible trajectories of latina/o communication studies. (D. Robert DeChaine, California State University, Los Angeles)

About this edition

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0739146483
• ISBN 13: 9780739146484
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 332
• Editor: Holling Michelle A., Calafell Bernadette M.