No abstract

No abstract

In this essay, the authors explore some of the communicative dimensions of the Rigoberta Menchú controversy, engaging both the textual and contextual elements of this controversy. They first provide a brief review of the Menchú case and an analysis of the criticism by her principal detractor, David Stoll. The authors then analyze the unique role that testimonio plays in Latin American discursive constructions, as well as how other discursive communities responded to the Menchú-Stoll controversy. Finally, the authors comment on the discursive importance of the Menchú-Stoll controversy, and make a case for the heuristic value of testimonio in future investigations of Latin American work in communication studies.What testimonio obliges us to confront is not only the subaltern as a (self-)represented victim, but also as the agent-in that very act of representation-of a transformative project that aspires to become hegemonic in its own right. (Beverley, 2005, p. 553) When political activist and Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchú announced her decision to run for the presidency of Guatemala in 2007, she reopened a looming debate and reignited a controversy. Although she

This study interrogates whether popular journalism – in this case music journalism – can contribute to a productive discourse on issues of public concern. We conducted a textual analysis of the discourse on cultural globalization in the coverage on world music in the US popular press over the last 30 years. We found that music journalists developed a new cultural sensibility in several distinctive phases. The first phase was marked by a firm West/non-West dichotomy and ‘othering.’ A brief second phase denoted the confusion of prior assumptions. The third phase indicated the dissolution of traditional dichotomies and the integration of dynamic and hybrid ideas of global cultural exchange. Along with significant modifications in journalistic style and a different representation of global others, the position of music reviewers as popular journalists eventually helped their acceptance of global cultural transformations. At their best, the reviews created relevant and productive texts on the cultural dimensions of globalization.