Film-Video and Media Studies Department
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications

American Jane?: An analysis of citizenship, gendered Latinidad, and the transnational in the telenovela adaptation Jane The Virgin

Description: Drawing on Latina/o media studies, television studies and political economy of communications, my transdisciplinary research project highlights issues of identity and belonging in The CW’s television series Jane The Virgin (JTV). This project addresses three overarching questions: How does JTV portray Latina/o identity, especially in regards to citizenship and belonging?; How does JTV portray gendered Latinidad?; and How is the transnational manifested in JTV? By attending to these questions, I define how JTV places Latina/o and non-Latina/o characters on a continuum of citizenship deficit and citizenship excess and, therefore, contributes to forms of consciousness about Latina/os within and beyond the nation.