Brown Tide Rising: Metaphors of Latinos in Contemporary American Public Discourse

Otto Santa Ana

Published by University of Texas Press 2002

Brown Tide Rising

Metaphors of Latinos in Contemporary American Public Discourse

Otto Santa Ana

https://doi.org/10.7560/777668

Overview
Contents

About this book

2002 – Best Book on Ethnic and Racial Political Ideology and/or Political Theory – Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics of the American Political Science Association

"...awash under a brown tide...the relentless flow of immigrants..like waves on a beach, these human flows are remaking the face of America...." Since 1993, metaphorical language such as this has permeated mainstream media reporting on the United States' growing Latino population. In this groundbreaking book, Otto Santa Ana argues that far from being mere figures of speech, such metaphors produce and sustain negative public perceptions of the Latino community and its place in American society, precluding the view that Latinos are vested with the same rights and privileges as other citizens.

Applying the insights of cognitive metaphor theory to an extensive natural language data set drawn from hundreds of articles in the Los Angeles Times and other media, Santa Ana reveals how metaphorical language portrays Latinos as invaders, outsiders, burdens, parasites, diseases, animals, and weeds. He convincingly demonstrates that three anti-Latino referenda passed in California because of such imagery, particularly the infamous anti-immigrant measure, Proposition 187. Santa Ana illustrates how Proposition 209 organizers broadcast compelling new metaphors about racism to persuade an electorate that had previously supported affirmative action to ban it. He also shows how Proposition 227 supporters used antiquated metaphors for learning, school, and language to blame Latino children's speech—rather than gross structural inequity—for their schools' failure to educate them. Santa Ana concludes by calling for the creation of insurgent metaphors to contest oppressive U.S. public discourse about minority communities.

Author / Editor information

Otto Santa Ana is a founder and professor of the César Chávez Center for Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCLA.

Reviews

This is a highly significant contribution to scholarship in several fields—e. g. sociology, sociolinguistics, cultural studies, political studies, ethnic studies. . . . The combination of lucid and rational theory, rich data set, and carefully reasoned analysis results in an unusually powerful book.

— Ronald Schmidt Sr.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Foreword Joe R. Feagin Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xix
CHAPTER ONE Why Study the Public Discourse Metaphors Depicting Latinos? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I Theory and Method
CHAPTER TWO How Metaphor Shapes Public Opinion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
PART II Analyses
CHAPTER THREE Proposition 187: Misrepresenting Immigrants and Immigration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
CHAPTER FOUR Proposition 209: Competing Metaphors for racism and affirmative action Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
CHAPTER FIVE Student as Means, Not End: Contemporary American Discourse on Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
CHAPTER SIX American Discourse on nation and language: The ‘‘English for the Children’’ Referendum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
PART III Conclusions
CHAPTER SEVEN Disese or intruder: Metaphors Constructing the Place of Latinos in the United States Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
CHAPTER EIGHT Insurgent Metaphors: Contesting the Conventional Representations of Latinos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Appendix: Tallies of Political Metaphors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
Permissions Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	395

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 424

eBook

Published: January 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780292796355