Cultural studies has shifted the focus of language and literary studies to concerns previously excluded from the classroom: the perspectives of marginal groups, the expressive forms and social practices of popular and mass cultures. Among Latin Americanists, this academic approach is strongly contested, for reasons both philosophical and political. In their introduction, the editors examine this conflict, relating the history of cultural studies in Latin America to later developments in Britain and the United States. The nine essays in this volume probe the tension and interdependence between...

Cultural studies has shifted the focus of language and literary studies to concerns previously excluded from the classroom: the perspectives of marginal groups, the expressive forms and social practices of popular and mass cultures. Among Latin Americanists, this academic approach is strongly contested, for reasons both philosophical and political. In their introduction, the editors examine this conflict, relating the history of cultural studies in Latin America to later developments in Britain and the United States. The nine essays in this volume probe the tension and interdependence between...