New Books In Communications

In Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in Twentieth-Century U.S. Popular Performance (University of Michigan Press, 2015) Brian Eugenio Herrera examines the way in which Latina/o actors have communicated and influenced ideas about race and ethnicity in the U.S. through their performances on the stage and screen. Introducing the concept of the “Latin number,” Dr. Herrera analyzes a series of overlapping historical moments from 1930 to 1990 when media and audiences became fascinated with Latinas/os and their potential impact on U.S. society. As a fleeting phenomenon, in which the U.S. public rediscovers, consumes, and then disregards Latinas/os, “Latin numbers,” Herrera explains, comprise a form of “spectacular entertainment” that perpetuates the myth of Hispanics as perennial novelties. Building on the work of cultural historians, Herrera also employs the concept of “playing Latino” to describe the more enduring effects of Latina/o popular performance on U.S. systems of racial classification and knowledge production