A Latinx cultural revolution
Latinx Teens: US Popular Culture on the Page, Stage, and Screen, Trevor Boffone and Cristina Herrera, reviewed by Gavin O’Toole 22 December 2022
Latinx Teens: US Popular Culture on the Page, Stage, and Screen, Trevor Boffone and Cristina Herrera, 2022, University of Arizona Press
There is no doubt that one of the most significant developments in the contemporary US is the growing prominence of Latinos/as (i.e., “Latinx”) in leading social positions.
While this community has always been large, there is a sense that in the last two decades it has somehow come of age in politics, activism and creativity.
Demographically that is inevitable: it represents the fastest growing US community now comprising 17% of the population and, by 2045, set to comprise the largest (pan)-ethnic group.
Inevitably, the focus of much attention has been on the most prominent institutional figures such as the ubiquitous “AOC” (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and rightwing counterparts like Ted Cruz, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, scientists and doctors such as Antonia Coello Novello and France Córdova, and journalists like Jorge Ramos. Throughout contemporary American history, influential Latinx activists in the labour and rights movements, from Cesar Chavez to Sylvia Mendez, have also become household names.
Yet it is arguably in the field of popular culture that Latinx figures are now coming into their own in every field of creativity, from established mainstream stars such as Gloria Estefan to the hyper-successful newcomer Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“Coming of age” is an appropriate metaphor to describe this creative community, because as this book makes clear, the mantle is being passed to a new generation of young Latinx people who are shaping culture like never before.
As the authors of Latinx Teens state: “To understand teenage Latinidad is to understand contemporary US culture. Latinx teens are US American teens…”
This is an important observation that is not as simple as it might seem: it masks multiple layers of cultural assimilation, synergy, and social interaction that is transforming modern America—with self-evident birth pangs—from the dominant waspish, Protestant conformism that remains influential, into a society more comfortable with its own, self-evident diversity.
These things matter not just to the US itself, but far beyond, because to steal a metaphor from the book, popular culture globally, for right or wrong, is so often American popular culture. The clear implication of this is that the Latinx influence in America per se ultimately has a global cultural impact.
But this also matters for Latin America, because if the term Latinx is a somewhat clumsy pan-ethnic, gender-inclusive label for people ultimately hailing from that region, its association with popular culture is also a confirmation in the US that they are recognised—something that has arguably been an engine of this community’s ascent in recent years.
While scholarship on Latinx popular culture has grown in recent years, less attention has been given to teenage identities. Given that these are likely to shape the future, that is why this modest work is so valuable, being the first book-length study of its kind.
Latinx Teens adopts an accessible, documentary approach to exploring the creative contributions of young Latinx people in literature, television, film and theatre. It is not heavily over-theorised and, therefore, offers an excellent introduction to the creative force of this community more generally.
Nor does it harp on about the lack of representation of Latinx narratives across popular culture media: its central motive is to record what is being done in order to make Latinx teens more visible.
It is impossible not to be excited by this, because in every area original and influential work is proliferating, from the young adult literature of Gabby Rivera Elizabeth Acevedo, Benjamon Alire Sáenz and Adam Silvera, to the theatrical productions and compositions of Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Karen Zacarías. Even Spider-Man has been given an Afro-Latino twist through the character Miles Morales.
One is left with the sense that, despite the undeniable problems faced by the Latinx minority in the contemporary US, the 21st century may prove to be theirs. What’s the Spanish for Zeitgeist?