ABSTRACT
In the contemporary global situation, the movement of populations and cultural forms stands out as a major component of everyday life (Appadurai, 1996). Within this environment of forced and voluntary mobility, Latina/os2 are one of the most dynamic segments of the U.S. population, with the youth component growing at a faster pace than other age cohorts. Simultaneously, as the symbolic register of our national imaginary, mainstream popular culture represents our values, fears, and desires within a matrix of power. Th at Latina/os are becoming more visible in mass media is a documented fact by many media scholars. However, and for the purposes of this book, my focus in this essay centers on Latina/o youth. How much do we know about Latina/o youth and popular culture scholarship? How much do we know about youth in Latina/o scholarship? Are Latina/o youth represented in mainstream popular culture and, if so, how? What are the implications of representation for Latina/o youth recognition? Do Latina/o youth engage with mainstream popular culture and, if so, how? Th is set of interrogations cannot be answered fully as the research has only begun to be conducted. Nonetheless, from what is available we can proceed to make some cautionary hypotheses as well as to pursue productive venues of further research. Narratives of youth and Latinidad are just beginning to be written, and this essay is an eff ort to make a democratically informed intervention into a budding discourse of ethnicity and diff erence.
