The Trans/national Cultural Economy of Latin American Film Musicals (1930s-50s)
Peter W. Schulze
Page 127-142
Abstract: This essay traces the tensions between national imaginaries and transnational global media flows of tango, samba, and ranchera film musicals, taking into account their cross-media and intercultural configurations as well as interconnections between these three “transgenres.” From a comparative perspective and by means of a “histoire croisée,” or crisscrossing history, it touches upon developments in early Latin American sound film, Hollywood’s Spanishlanguage films and its Pan-Americanism, Spain’s cinematic Hispanoamericanismo, and Pan-Latin American film productions. The essay makes a case for the multifaceted trans/national cultural economy of the tango, samba, and ranchera film musical productions during their main phase, in the 1930s and 40s.
Keywords: tango, samba, ranchera, transgenre, crisscrossing history, globalization, cinema
Doi: 10.53397/hunnu.jflc.202102012