Latin American & US Latino Cultural Icons Reimagined in Contemporary Literature

(Panel)

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Spanish/Portuguese / American/Diaspora
In Person Only: The session will be held fully in person at the hotel. No remote presentations will be included.

Jennifer Irish-Mendez (United States Military Academy)

How are popular cultural figures from Latin America and the US Latino communities remembered, reimagined, and mobilized in contemporary literature? In what ways do literary and performative works reinterpret their identities and contributions to the broader cultural imaginary? Can these new understandings of popular cultural figures empower members within that community?

This panel invites papers on Latin American and/or US Latino cultural icons as represented in contemporary literature and performance by writers from Latin America and the United States. It seeks to examine how these figures are re-envisioned in response to shifting social, political, and cultural contexts, and how their images and legacies empower communities.

Papers will be accepted in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.


The evolving representation of Latin American and US Latino popular cultural icons in contemporary literature is a response to changing social, political, and cultural contexts. Remembering, reimagining, and reinterpreting these cultural icons facilitates a more heterogeneous understanding of Latin American and US Latino collective memory and identity.