'I laughed until it hurt': Representing culture and cultural identity in the media. A discursive exploration of humorous Latino popular culture artifacts

The representation of Latina/o culture and cultural identity in three sets of humorous ethnic media artifacts was explored using discourse analysis methods. Represented cultural values, the beliefs, behaviors, and objects associated with or attributed to the Latina/o population, were found to coincide with prominent cultural characteristics frequently explored in scholarship. While stereotyped in representation, their presence was a reflection of historic and contemporary traits and characteristics perceived as pervasively attributable to the whole Latina/o population. Represented cultural identity archetypes were not only found to coincide with previous identity types and identity histories but also suggested the presence of a floating identity by which audiences could contextually adjust and identify with different represented character identities. The humorous nature of the artifacts coincided with the intentionality outlined in scholarship, namely the search for intracultural empowerment through the exploration of cultural shortcomings in hope of bringing realization and change, and resistance against historic hegemonies oppressive to Latina/os. A theoretical model exploring the potential infusing and dissipating properties of cultural media representations was developed.