The Printing Press and Latino Identity

Posted on Monday, August 8

Chicago Humanities Festival

How can technology help create a culture? University of Chicago professor Raul Coronado is answering this question through his study of Latino identity in the United States. In May 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and deposed the Spanish king. Overnight, the Hispanic world, comprising the Spanish peninsula, Spanish America, and the Philippines, was transformed forever. Hispanics turned to the rapidity and reach of the press, using it to advocate for their visions of a new modern world, to create a public sphere, and to contest racialization. Coronado draws on pertinent examples to tell a story of the historical accidents and reversals that led Spanish-Americans to imagine themselves not as sovereigns of new Hispanic nations but as members of a far-flung culture united by modern communication. In this program, Coronado will focus on the genesis of this identity—the 1850s and the rise of Spanish-language newspapers.

Saturday, November 12
12:00 – 1:00 PM

General Admission: $5.00
Teachers and Students: FREE

Poetry Foundation
61 W Superior St.