Latin American Icons - by Dianna C Niebylski & Patrick O'Connor (Paperback)

About the Book

The faces of fame in Latin America--and the power they hold over the world.

Book Synopsis

The faces of Che, Frida, Evita, Carmen Miranda, and other icons represent Latin America both to a global public that sees these faces constantly reproduced, and to Latin Americans themselves. With equal parts idolatry and iconoclasm, Latin American Icons recognizes and interrogates those Latin Americans who have become larger than life. In trying to understand the meaning of iconic figures in modern Latin America, this volume ranges across every realm of political and cultural life--populist politicos, jet-setting ambassador-playboys, soccer players, and superstars--to examine the complex forces at work in the making and remaking of celebrities within and across national borders.

Review Quotes

"Marked by a solid group of essays produced primarily by literary and film studies scholars, this volume offers some important opportunities to examine key representations of Latin American icons. Perhaps more significantly, it frames these representations within the context of the cults of celebrity that have so often over-determined our understandings of these individuals, both past and present."
--Maria Elena Cepeda, Williams College, author of Musical ImagiNation

"The icons under study--some familiar to us, other not--come alive on the pages."
--Kathryn Sloan, University of Arkansas, author of Women's Roles in Latin America and the Caribbean

About the Author

Dianna Niebylski is Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of Humoring Resistance.

Patrick O'Connor is Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies at Oberlin College and author of Latin American Fictions and the Narratives of the Perverse.