Keynote Address
"The Cowboy and the Goddess: Television News Mythmaking about Immigrants" Heading link
Dr. Otto Santa Ana
Professor of Chicano/a Studies at UCLA
Thursday, March 5 at 4:15pm
Daley Library, Conference Room 1-470
By analyzing one full year of evening news reports from four national television networks about immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border, Dr. Santa Ana argues that the news stories were built on one of two myths, which Northrop Frye called story types. Dr. Santa Ana reveals that the categories ‘Latina/o’ and ‘immigrant’ are not new, but rather are based on ancient archetypes. His empirical, social-scientific analysis employs literary theory and film genre scholarship, and he concludes that news viewers in the US are entertained by epic myths more than edified by objective reporting of the day’s events.
Reception to follow keynote address