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Encyclopedia brings Latino popular culture to life

Latino culture has a multitude of significant influences that have shaped today’s popular culture. A team of ASU scholars in the Chicana/o Studies Department (CCS) conducted a four-year research project that produced a two-volume publication, “The Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture.”

Greenwood Publishing, based in Westport, Connecticut, and London, published the encyclopedia.

“There’s a nice mezcla (mix) of global and national subject matter in this set,” says Cordelia Candelaria, chair of ASU’s CCS Department and general editor of the publication. “There is something for everyone, and I really believe those who look through it will be amazed at the tremendous amount of information that has been compiled.”

The encyclopedia set, now on sale, was created to serve as a resource of information covering a wide variety of topics and issues that have influenced American culture, and to provide research-based information to the public in a timely manner.

In addition to Candelaria, the research team also included Arturo Aldama, associate professor in CCS and specialist editor; Peter J. Garcia, assistant professor in CCS and specialist editor; Alma Alvarez-Smith, managing editor and senior contributing writer; and Emmanuel Sanchez, research assistant.

“There are many people who have preferences to what they want to learn,” Candelaria says. “It’s a global design with a local application.”

“It was a great learning process,” says Garcia of the research efforts in compiling items for the encyclopedia. “There is a great need for this because of the growth in Latino culture, and the influence it has on today’s pop culture and how we live.”

The “Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture” presents hundreds of entries illustrating how the living cultures of the United States and the Americas have been affected by contributions from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the rest of Central America and South America, and the Spanish Caribbean. These contributions – and their adaptations in the United States – are showcased in almost 500 entries on noted people, events, films, food literature, movements, sports, places, the visual and performing arts, organizations and much more.

Candelaria and Garcia say this encyclopedia set is the first major reference tool to focus on the breadth of Latino cultural expression.

“I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see this project come together,” Candelaria says.

“There are a lot of traditional items and topics covered, but we wanted to go beyond the traditional boundary and show the dynamic side of the Latino culture,” Garcia adds.

Latinos such as Jennifer Lopez, Rita Moreno and Frida Kahlo are included in the encyclopedia set, in addition to Sandra Cisneros, a noted Chicana author, performance artist Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Xochitl Gil, a painter from Tucson.

The encyclopedia also showcases the lives of Latinos who struggled against social prejudice and served as advocates for civil rights. For instance, baseball great Roberto Clemente, a dark-skinned Puerto Rican who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, sided with his African-American teammates when they faced racist fans. And Cesar Chavez, the Mexican-American agricultural migrant worker labor union organizer and leader, used nonviolent action to gain recognition and respect of migrant farm laborers.

“It was very eye-opening to see the amount of information and images that we collected as a team,” Garcia says. “I’m proud of what we did, and I hope others will recognize the contributions Latino pop culture has made to shape today’s world.”

For more information about ASU’s Chicana and Chicano Studies Department, visit the Web at www.asu.edu/clas/chicana/.

By Manny Romero. Romero, with Marketing & Strategic Communications, can be reached at (480) 727-3116 or mlromero@asu.edu.