Page 97 - Cultural Studies Volume 11

ONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES 91

PDM: Has the Chicano movement influenced the work of Latin American
writers?
NGC: Unfortunately very little. I think that maybe there is an underlying
connection there, but the gap has yet to be bridged between the two sides. I think
that is beginning to change, but very slowly. One barrier may be language, but a
bigger one is the incredibly low rate of diffusion of Chicano literature in Latin
America. Nevertheless, in Mexico (especially in the north) the shared,
intercultural border has become more problematic. There have been many
conferences where ideas have been exchanged, but much more in terms of artists
than researchers. I’ve been in quite a few conferences in both Mexico and the
United States, mostly in the border areas such as California, Texas, Tijuana, in
which we have discussed identity issues. Quite a few common themes emerge,
but the overall feeling is that there is a certain defence of issues; a certain
intellectual and cultural territory being defended. I feel that when the Chicanos
meet they prefer to focus on the problematic of Chicano identity. Under these
cirumstances, it is very difficult to shift the focus to broader issues of culture and
society that would be more mutually oriented. Now, I am not referring to all
Chicano scholars, but this does seem like a problematic that frustrates attempts at
addressing issues in a more unified manner.
PDM: According to O’Connor (1991:60–61), one of the ways to identify Latin
American cultural studies ‘is to follow networks of influence and the diffusion of
ideas, for example from England to Latin America’. Reading your work, and the
work of other researchers associated with cultural studies such as Jesús Martin
Barbero, José Joaquín Brunner, Carlos Monsiváis and Jorge Gonzalez, there
are references to Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart, but I don’t really see
a huge influence by the Birmingham School. From your perspective, what
European theorists have been the most influential in the development of cultural
studies in Latin America, particularly in your own work?
NGC: The Birmingham School has had a certain influence on the formation of
Latin American cultural studies, specifically in the area of communication
studies. I think that the scholarship of Martin-Barbero and some of the Brazilian
scholars demonstrates this. For instance, the critique of the Birmingham School
that Martin-Barbero (1993) develops in his book Communication, Culture and
Hegemony: From the Media to Mediations offers some interesting commentaries,
as do his views of the Frankfurt School. But the thing is that this is not that big
an influence when compared with other influences, other dialogues. In addition, I
think that Latin American cultural studies’ relationship with the discourses of the
metropolis is relatively recent—maybe little more than ten years. There have
been other influences that have been very strong but have not traditionally been
associated directly with cultural studies, especially Pierre Bourdieu. Such work
has nourished the emergence of cultural studies in Latin America, particularly in
the realm of investigative orientation. It appears to me that to understand Latin
American cultural studies you need to consider the work of Pierre Bourdieu. I
have the impression that in England and the United States Bourdieu’s work has