Theorizing Latinidad
This course examines theories and approaches to a "collective" U.S. Latina and Latino identity, raising questions about the aims and ends of a "unifying" and singular concept of "Latinidad." As such, we shall ask what creates Latinidad and investigate the kinds of subjects and subjectivities constituted within U.S. social processes of "becoming." How, then, do Latinas and Latinos encounter one another when the assumption is that "they" are working towards "similar" interests and agendas? In light of these concerns, the seminar will ask whether there can be a Latinidad without national identities and "brown" referents as founding myths. Drawing from social science as well as cultural and literary works, we shall engage, for example, with Arlene Davila's *Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People*; Néstor García Canclini's *Latinoamericanos Buscano Lugar En Este Siglo*; and Juana Rodriguez's *Queer Latinidad: Identity Practices, Discursive Spaces,* among others.By calling into question the types of discursive erasures that surface as Latina and Latino identities are grasped through projects of consesus-building, social movements, and community affiliations will provide the background and insight to rethink "Latinity"
from a different point of view.
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