Historias 14 – Mauricio Espinoza on superheroes and Latinx social realities in the U.S.

What do heroes and superheroes tell us about Latino and Latina social reality, identity, and belonging in the United States?

Dr. Mauricio Espinoza joined Dave McLaughlin to discuss how the figures of the Latino and Latina hero and superhero are used within multiple genres (film, graphic novel, Netflix, etc) to trouble notions of legality and illegality within the U.S. imaginary. Mauricio’s current book project discusses the process and offers vignettes from his research that illuminate how Latina and Latino identities have often been erased or downplayed at the expense of highlighting other characteristics that perpetuate certain myths about what it means to be and look “American.” He also discusses his work as a poet and editor and an upcoming bilingual edited volume he is organizing of selected works by Ohio poets writing in Spanish.
 

 
Additional resources:

Mauricio’s book of poetry Respiración de piedras
Mauricio Espinoza, “Neoliberalism in the Gutter: Latin American Comics and Society since the 1990s,” Studies in 20th & 21st Century 42, no. 1 (2017),
Mauricio’s department page