Through critical analyses of experiences of women of color in the academy, the media framing of alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes, the use of monstrosity in unpublished work from the Gloria Anzaldua archives, post-feminist discourses and Kanye West's strategic employment of ideologies of monstrosity, this book offers new ways to think about Otherness in this contemporary moment.
This is the first book within the field of communication studies to map the terrain of Latina/o performance. Using rhetorical criticism and performance ethnography, the book examines performance from a variety of perspectives: from identity and community in everyday life, to how it intersects with popular culture. Discussions - from Ricky Martin to Chicana feminist pilgrimages to issues of diaspora - contribute to the book's argument that the relationship between rhetorical scholarship and emerging performance work has largely been ignored. Latina/o Communication Studies aims to challenge this split by creating a more complex and less Eurocentric understanding of rhetoric. This rich and informative book contributes to a more nuanced understanding of race and ethnicity and attests to the importance of Latina/o studies in the field of communication.