Culturas hispanas a través de la pantalla / Hispanic Cultures Through the Screen

Reviewed by Jose Quintana, Senior Lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/9/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

It is a good overview with good examples. I think the usefulness of the book comes from the fact that is is written in both English and Spanish.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book seemed pretty accurate from what I saw.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

It is up to date, but anything with popular culture could have a limited lifespan. I think the author did a good job of choosing subjects that have enough of a chance to have a lasting impact. But being a Creative Commons book, it can updated periodically.

Clarity rating: 5

It is very clear and to the point, no fluff, which I appreciate because the media subjects is what the focus should be one.

Consistency rating: 5

It was consistent throughout, giving good examples and links when necessary.

Modularity rating: 5

It is broken into sections that could easily be read alone without the need of reading the entire text. I could see myself using just one or two chapters in a class.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization is good. There is a Spanish section, then the English section. I prefer this format instead of back to back or I have even seen side by side for dual language books and I feel that this allows you to fully focus on the words, instead of trying to find the other languages equivalent.

Interface rating: 5

Interface was good.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn’t notice any grammatical errors, in either language.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

It does a good job of trying to include as many Latin American people/ Latino groups as possible. Latinx folks are very multi racial/ethnic and the book isn’t a comprehensive guide, but in brief reference book with good examples that give a good umbrella overview.

Comments

No, just that the power is in that it is in both English and Spanish, so it can be used in many more classes because of that.

Reviewed by Diomedes Rabago, Visiting Assistant Professor, Kalamazoo College on 6/18/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Each chapter introduces a cultural text followed by a short biography of its author(s), and a list of vocabulary or idiomatic expressions appearing therein. Additionally, it provides various relevant exercises/activities that allow students to practice the content covered. Textual analysis and further discussion are guided by questions and subsequent tasks. All instructions are in Spanish and correspond to a high-intermediate or advanced reader.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content draws from a variety of genres and authentic sources such as videos, news interviews, tweets, etc. The language is clear and error-free; the text provides examples from a variety of regions emphasizing and explaining colloquialisms and registers.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is contemporary and addresses relevant topics in Pan-Hispanic Cultural Studies. However, some updates might be necessary due to the fast pace and whim of content giants such as YouTube and Twitter. Currently (June 2023), some online contents have already been removed.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in Spanish, and in a very clear, academic, formal style that should be comprehensible to high-intermediate and advanced students. Vocabulary and specific cultural terminology/new concepts are also explained clearly and concisely.

Consistency rating: 5

Terminology and frameworks presented in this textbook are consistent throughout. Each lesson follows structured guidelines, but at the same time allows flexibility to adapting the text for specific needs.

Modularity rating: 5

This program is divided into 11 units: three centered on short series, three focused on serial films, and five around music videos. The units created on serialized films are more developed since they include a set of activities and questions aimed at analyzing and discussing characters in more depth. The units based on music videos and short films are distinctly more concise.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is generally well organized. Each module includes videos, interactive activities, vocabulary, discussion questions, and a complete bibliography.

Interface rating: 4

This textbook is easy to navigate and free of significant issues. For a textbook dealing with cultural topics and visual analysis, the lack of pictures and more visual contents is surprising.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text does not have any grammatical/spelling errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This textbook not only is centered around audiovisual language and cultural artifacts, but it also questions and challenges the notions of tradition, popular art, heritage, and historical diversity. The primary texts presented here represent non-canonical works, mainstream art, and lesser-known cultural products that are seldom included in intermediate and advanced Spanish courses.

Reviewed by Caitlin McClelland Methvin, visiting assistant professor, DePauw University on 5/27/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The guiding pedagogical framework of the textbook is a critical approach to teach “Latino linguistic, cultural, and historical diversity” for a broad collegiate audience. The textbook is divided into its English and Spanish versions, allowing for more instructional flexibility. Each of the eleven units contextualizes an audiovisual product from North, Central, or South America. The quantity and independent nature of the units ensures that instructors have plenty of options from which they can choose and do not have to rely on the textbook’s ordering of chapters. Three units are designed around a television series, three deal with short video series, and three around music videos.

Mexican and Mexican American culture is the most heavily featured. Four out of the eleven units feature an audiovisual product from Mexico and/or portray Mexican Americans: Joe T Hodo, the TV series Vida, Lila Downs’s music video for “Urge,” and Vivir Quintana’s music video for “Canción sin miedo.” * Other units focus on media from Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, and Chile, or an amalgamation of Latino cultures.

The textbook does not include an index or glossary.

No rubrics or suggested requisites are supplied for the unit’s final assessments.

*The unit discussing “This land is your land” by Los jornaleros del norte and Netflix’s Street Food also reference Mexican and/or Mexican American culture but also discuss other Latino cultures.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Overall, the textbook does not contain overt errors in content. Some links connect to popular, living sources such as Wikipedia pages and social media whose content may change. No egregious errors were found in the linked sources; however, a link to an interview with comedic personality Joe T Hodo was actually a tweet that contained screenshots of the article. The copied images included overlaid icons that blocked a few words in the text.

Some of the terms explained in certain chapters are loaded with meaning and may require more explanation than the textbook provides. For example, in the Spanish version of the Vida unit, the textbook differentiates chingón (“capaz, determinado, simpático, hábil, cool”) and its feminine version, chingona (“Mujer problemática (de acuerdo a criterios patriarcales) porque dice lo que piensa y toma sus propias decisiones”) but does not offer supplementary information regarding the terms’ nuances or connotations, including their vulgarity. However, the provided translation of chingona in the corresponding English chapter qualifies the term: “In some contexts and from a patriarchal perspective, a woman who speaks her mind and makes her own decisions” (emphasis mine). This reviewer could not determine if the textbook’s definition reflects the TV series’ use because the show is only hosted on the STARZ platform. Likewise, the textbook’s definitions of pocho (“someone of Mexican origin who lives in the United States and has assimilated him or herself to Anglo-American traditions and customs”) and tortillera (“lesbian”) do not give overt explanations that the terms can be used as pejoratives or reappropriations of the word to reclaim its power.

The textbook’s title reads Culturas hispanas a través de la pantalla/Hispanic Cultures through the Screen. However, as the Introduction states, the students “profundizarán en su conocimiento de las comunidades latinas [y] se centran en personajes y/o temáticas relacionadas con Latinoamérica o con los latinos en Estados Unidos” (“…will deepen their knowledge of latin communities [and] focus on themes related to Latin America or with those of Latinos in the United States” (my translation).) Other than Spanish pop singer Bebe’s song “Malo” being briefly mentioned in the “Canción sin miedo” unit, the textbook does not include any audiovisual media from Spain. The unit featuring ten episodes of Netflix’s Street Food also includes an episode about Brazilian cuisine. Consequently, the use of the term “Hispanic” in the textbook’s title can be misleading depending on one’s interpretation of the term.

Some of the lyrics to the song “This land is your land” by Los jornaleros del norte are missing because they are inaudible and were transcribed.

If the above hyperlinks do to not work:
Nuance: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/que-chingona.1157414/
Vulgarity: https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=chingona
Pocho: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-06-me-14431-story.html#:~:text=March%206%2C%201999%2012%20AM,between%20being%20Mexican%20and%20American
Tortillera https://www.moscasdecolores.com/en/lesbian-slang-collection/tortillera-lesbian-dictionary-spain/

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The selection of materials is relevant and engaging for most university students. Three of the units focus on emotions and relationships. Most of the selected media is, at earliest, from the 2010s and centers around relevant topics that will continue to be pertinent. Also, the textbook highlights social issues (gentrification, femicide, and historical memory, etc.) that traverse national borders and therefore provide fertile ground for comparing similar media across a multitude of Latino communities.

To combat some inevitable issues of broken links or the need for some updating, the textbook could provide information to the students and instructor about where to look for more sources. Such discussion could include a general overview of media literacy skills that would aid in determining a text’s credibility, whether it be a Wikipedia page or those that have been traditionally deemed academically valid. Or, if including popular sources as supplementary materials, discussion questions could ask students to think about the source’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, when presenting the unit about Jane the Virgin, an instructor could pose questions regarding the textbook’s use of tourism videos (Little Havana, Calle Ocho) as an overview of Latino culture in Miami, Florida.

Some students might find it difficult to access some of the media content. All the TV series are only viewable with a subscription to a streaming service. In the summer of 2022, Netflix features Street Food, La niña, and Jane the Virgin. STARZ hosts Vida. The series’ hosting sites may change in the future.

Clarity rating: 5

This reviewer uses this section to discuss clarity as well as presentation of material. ACTFL’s 2017 Can-Do Benchmark Indicators state that students with intermediate high proficiency can interpret or analyze an authentic fictional text and “follow the main story and actions expressed in various time frames.” As such, students should, very generally, already be able to discern the textbook’s audiovisual’s main ideas without any additional aid. (Differentiating circumstances including the text’s complexity, length, proximity to the students’ L1 culture, and students’ prior experience with authentic materials can increase or decrease comprehension.)

However, the textbook’s chapters include scaffolding that should aid students’ comprehension well past basic interpretation to determine details and nuance. The chapters’ information and activities act as an anticipation guide to activate prior knowledge and/or provide explanations behind the media’s sociopolitical references. If students truly struggle with reading the provided material, the attached English version of the textbook can provide guidance. Likewise, the textbook author purposefully chose media available in English and/or in Spanish, or with subtitles/closed captioning in English, Spanish, or both languages. (Due to the fact that much of the supplementary material centers around learning the media’s vocabulary, even if students only refer to the English versions, they will be forced to engage with Spanish language.)

The post-viewing and post-reading activities prepare students for the chapters’ summative assessments. Discussion questions are primarily geared towards students with an intermediate low-mid proficiency, asking them to exchange ideas regarding concrete academic and social topics. Many of the units pose questions about camerawork, characterization, sound, and other media literacy techniques, but does not include jargon and as such, are suitable for undergraduates not well versed in film or media studies. The final assessments are often individual writings or presentations that require an advanced low proficiency. Students must be able to adopt a different perspective, defend an opinion, or respond to abstract concepts that involve critical thinking.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook’s format and language are consistent throughout and appropriate for the media that it studies.

Modularity rating: 4

The textbook’s online version is easy to navigate from one chapter to the next. Each chapter is independent of the other and therefore the chapters can be presented in any order. The sections within the contextualized units are not long enough to require additional links to the homepage, or to the top of the page. Subtitles and graphics also facilitate navigation, especially if using the online version because the user can easily move back and forth between the original text and linked sources. However, it might be prudent to suggest students download the pdf version for an offline reference. Users cannot download individual chapters and therefore must have capability to download and store a PDF of 2.7 MB.

Only three out of the 113 links provided were no longer active. In the unit, “Canción sin miedo” the definition for both compas and judiciales is linked to a Asociación de Academias de la lengua española page that states, “la palabra judiciales no está en el Diccionario.” In “La cumbia de memoria” unit, the lyric “Sofía” has a broken link.

Some of the links lead to general pages that require a student to look for the source that the textbook mentions. For example, In the Cartas de amor unit, the link brings the user to the hosting website, UN3.tv (or its accompanying YouTube site) and the user must search for the series. In the Joe T Hodo unit, the text tells students that they can read the satire piece “Para qué tener una Malinche cuando puedes tener un Córtes?” However, the link leads the user to the comedian’s site that hosts videos, which do not explain how the historical figures tie into the videos’ topics or humor. In the unit about the song “Shock” by Ana Tijous, there is a link to an article with the newspaper El País, which requires a paid subscription.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The author of the textbook suggest that the individual units be chosen and organized according to the instructor’s discretion. Each unit is independent of the rest and can be read in any order.

Interface rating: 5

The reviewer did not find any problems with the textbook’s interface. Images were helpful to summarize important points of the text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The reviewer did not find any major grammatical mistakes. In the Spanish edition, “qué” is missing its accent from the lyrics to the song “La cumbia de la memoria” from its titular unit. In the English version’s Introduction, sometimes the Oxford comma was used and then later not. In the unit about Street Food, the gender-neutral possessive adjective “su” is gendered in its English translation (“her”) which refers to male and female antecedents. Also, one of the listed doña’s in the same section is missing its tilde.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The author made sure to include a wide variety of representative texts, including those from communities that have been historically excluded from textbooks. In Cartas de amor, the protagonists from two of the ten mini episodes are members from LGBTQIA+ community. The relationships are given the same consideration as their peer episodes; the gay relationships are complex, non-stereotypical, and yet also illustrate the unique obstacles that non-heteronormative relationships confront. In the unit “Urge,” discussion questions encourage students to think about the music video’s references to indigenous women. Similarly, the units that study La niña, Jane the Virgin, and “Canción sin miedo” all deal with feminist topics. The unit featuring videos by Joe T Hodo discusses the term güero, setting the stage for discussions about race and colorism. In the unit about Jane the Virgin, students are asked to note characters’ physical appearances and how that shapes how the audience reacts to them. Instructors should note that many of the textbook’s topics are serious, can be upsetting, and are potentially controversial. For example, Netflix’s La niña narrates Colombia’s long-standing battle with FARC, child soldiers, and narcotraficantes. The textbook offers contextualization to combat a potential superficial understanding of Colombian culture as imbued with drugs and violence. The unit about “Canción sin miedo” deals with femicide in Latin America. The music video for “This land is your land” by Los jornaleros del norte openly criticizes former USA president Donald Trump’s plan for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Such topics are highly relevant and can inspire thoughtful dialogue but require the instructor to create an inclusive and respectful learning environment. Some final assessments require that students adopt a different cultural perspective while respecting the individual differences within those communities. For example, La nina’s final task asks students to write from a Colombian character’s perspective and note how they have evolved. In the sole case of the unit focused on “This Land is Your Land,” the final writing assignment asks students to compare their experiences with those discussed in the unit, which can be problematic. Students are asked to consider a time that they had to move and reflect on how they felt and consider those emotions in respect to the unit’s discussion of migratory workers. The assignment appears to assume that the emotions associated with any changes in housing is indicative to varied and vast emotional experience of Latino workers crossing back and forth across the United States and Latin America. Additionally, the question supposes students feel comfortable discussing changes in their residency or citizenship, which may involve divulging personal information.

Comments

I plan on using this textbook in the future.