Issue Editor: Ariane Dalla Déa

In recent years, the focus of representations of Latin American art productions and intellectual investigations has shifted from traditional and elite based to popular expressions of social movements. Art installations, representations of Latinos in the US media, the proliferation of Hip Hop, Graffiti art, and reconfigurations of folk and popular art into the mainstream art world are deeply connected to the social movements and symbolisms of political representations. These art productions depict the everyday lives, resistances, and identities on both sides of the ideological perspectives and claim a space that project, borrowing the term from Benedict Anderson, an “imagined community.”

This issue deals with cultural representations and art production of and by Latinos in the US and in Latin America. It addresses the hybrid communities within the “mediascapes” and identity markers within a global perspective. By borrowing and appropriating other “subaltern” art forms, such as US black art expressions (hip hop, rap, blues, etc) and merging with the local sounds, as with Afro Reggae movement in Brazil, ethnic groups in Latin America have forged an identity and applied to socioeconomic causes. Performance art by Guillermo Gómez-Peña has addressed the hybridity of cultures with a critical view to the ideological European thought and how historical influences have shaped the consciousness of the ethnic populations.

The blending of art and social movements has been widely used in Latin America, as well as in the US, and has a long history. One example of the intersection art-politics is the Teatro Campesino used in by the United Farm Workers, forging a cultural agency where political agency was hindered. Political and popular Latin American art are expressions of everyday struggles and representations of social oppressions. It is used to resist, to protest, to celebrate, to mourn, or as catharsis.

Why art? What are the hegemonic views transposed in the art and visual representations? How does art and Latino artist challenge the neoliberal paradigms? What are the responses produced by Latin American artists to political and economic differentiations between US/Latin America? How can art and representation mediate (resolve?) social issues? How have Latinos used art to criticize Latin American culture? The articles should address issues of visual representations and art as cultural critiques, their impact on the social and art communities, uses of art, and responses to artistic representations. We welcome articles focusing on uses of theater, performance arts, visual arts (film, graffiti, advertising), music, and literature.

Manuscripts should be no longer than 25 pages of double-spaced text in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. If possible, submit two copies along with a cover sheet and basic biographical information. With these items, we also require that the manuscript be sent on a CD-R, by e-mail, or on a floppy disk if the other formats are not available. The LAP style guide is available on request or online.

Please send any manuscript submissions to:
Managing Editor, Latin American Perspectives¸ P.O. Box 5703,
Riverside, California 92517-5703