Contested Identities in Costa Rica: Constructions of the Tico in Literature and Film (Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures Lup) (Hardcover)

Contested Identities in Costa Rica: Constructions of the Tico in Literature and Film (Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures Lup) By Liz Harvey-Kattou Cover Image
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Description


Costa Rica is a country known internationally for its eco-credentials, dazzling coastlines, and reputation as one of the happiest and most peaceful nations on earth. Beneath this fa ade, however, lies an exclusionary rhetoric of nationalism bound up in the concept of the tico, as many Costa Ricans refer to themselves. Beginning by considering the very idea of national identity and what this constitutes, this book explores the nature of the idealised tico identity, demonstrating the ways in which it has assumed a white supremacist, Central Valley-centric, patriarchal, heteronormative stance based on colonial ideals. Chapters two and three then go on to consider the literature and films produced that stand in opposition to this normative image of who or what is tico and their creation as vehicles of soft power which aim to question social norms. This book explores protest literature from the 1970s by Quince Duncan, Carmen Naranjo, and Alfonso Chase who narrate their experiences from the margins of society by virtue of their identity as Afro-Costa Rican, feminist, and homosexual authors. Cinema from the twenty-first century is then analysed to demonstrate the nuanced position chosen by national directors Esteban Ram rez, Paz F brega, Jurgen Ure a, and Patricia Vel squez to challenge the dominant nation-image as they reinscribe youth culture, a female consciousness, trans identity, and Afro-Costa Rica onto the fabric of the nation.

About the Author


Liz Harvey-Kattou is a Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at University of Westminster
Product Details
ISBN: 9781789620054
ISBN-10: 1789620058
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Publication Date: June 28th, 2019
Pages: 224
Language: English
Series: Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures Lup