Humor and Hemispheric Consciousness:Chicana/o and NativeAmerican Contemporary Art

Authors

  • Guisela M. Latorre Author

Keywords:

Chicana/o art, Native American art, cultural resistance, hemispheric consciousness, subversive aesthetics

Abstract

This article analyzes the regenerative and transgressive power of humor in contemporary art by Chicana/o and Native American artists. The paper explores how humor serves as a strategy of cultural survival and a means to expose racial, social, and gender hierarchies within U.S. dominant culture. Through an examination of historical and political connections between these communities, the article argues that humorous aesthetics in their art function as tools for subversion and empowerment. The study investigates how Native and Chicana/o artists appropriate humorist strategies to contest institutionalized racism and discrimination, turning the tables on derisive stereotypes. By employing humor, these artists effectively critique Euro-centric artistic institutions and expose the seams of systemic oppression. This work demonstrates the significance of humor as a form of resistance and solidarity in marginalized communities.

 

(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)

References

Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin, eds. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 1995.

Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. Native North American Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.

Bhabha, Homi K. "Of Mimicry and Men: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse." October 26 (1984): 127-137.

Childs, Elizabeth C. "The Body Impolitic: Censorship and Daumier." Suspended License:

Censorship and the Visual Arts. Ed. Elizabeth C. Childs. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1997.

Fusco, Coco, Paula Heredia and Guillermo Gómez-Peña. The Couple in the Cage: A

Guatinaui Odyssey. Videocassette. Chicago: Video Data Bank, 1993.

Gómez-Peña, Guillermo. Dangerous Border Crossers: The Artist Talks Back. London: Routledge, 2000.

Hernández, Guillermo. Chicano Satire: A Study in Literary Culture. Austin: U of Texas P, 1991.

Keller, Gary D., Mary Erickson, Kaytie Johnson and Joaquín Alvarado, eds. Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art. vol. 1. Arizona: Bilingual, 2002.

Lincoln, Kenneth. Indi’n Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.

Lippard, Lucy R. "Jimmie Durham: Postmodernist ‘Savage.’" Art in America 81.2 (1993): 62-69.

Martínez, José Luis. Nezahualcoyotl:Textos Coleccionados con un Estudio Preliminar de Jose Luis Martinez. Mexico City: Sep Diana, 1979.

Reaves, Wendy Wick. "The Art in Humor, the Humor in Art." American Art 15.2 (2001): 2-9.

Said, Edward. "Orientalism." Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin 87-91.

Tiffin, Helen. "Post-colonial Literatures and Counter-discourse." Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin 95-98.

Trejo, Rubén. "Chicano Humor in Art: For Whom the Taco Bell Tolls." From Inside Out: Perspectives on Mexican and Mexican-American Folk Art. Ed. Karana HattersleyDrayton. San Francisco: The Mexican Museum, 1989. 86-90.

Downloads

Published

2003-10-01

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Categories

How to Cite

Humor and Hemispheric Consciousness:Chicana/o and NativeAmerican Contemporary Art. (2003). Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 1-13. https://jast.org.tr/index.php/main/article/view/323