Humor in Latin American Cinema

This book addresses a variety of regional humor traditions such as exploitation cinema, Brazilian chanchada, the Cantinflas heritage, the comedy of manners and light sexuality, iconic figures and characters, as well as a variety of humor registers evident in different Latin American films.

Juan Poblete is Professor of Latin/o American Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. He is the co-editor of Redrawing The Nation: National Identities in Latin/o American Comics (Palgrave, 2009) and Sports and Nationalism in Latin/o America (Palgrave, 2015).

Juana Suárez is Visiting Scholar at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, USA. She is the author of Critical Essays on Colombian Cinema: Cinembargo Colombia (Palgrave, 2012).

"Humor in Latin American Cinema is an outstanding collection of essay that unquestionably fills a research gap with respect to Latin American film! The essays are all well-researched, with significant topics, and involve insightful criticisms and good research conclusions." - David William Foster, Professor, University of Arizona, USA
 
"The best Latin American cinema learned long ago that life would be intolerable without a grain of humor and used that discovery to criticize society. Almost a dozen very serious scholars are gathered in Humor in Latin American Cinema, surprisingly one of the first of its kind in any language, to explore such an important film tradition. They help us understand why we enjoy and laugh at the genius of Sandrini, Marshall, Cantinflas, Olmedo, and many newer comedians who learned their own techniques from classic authors and a myriad of popular and anonymous sources." – Jorge Ruffinelli, Professor, Stanford University, USA

"Ever since the early triumphs of Cándida, Cantinflas and Oscarito, comedies have counted among Latin American cinema's biggest and most memorable hits. This collection of smart and well-chosen essays fills a gaping hole in Latin American film studies, helping us to understand what makes Latin America laugh and how." – Robert McKee Irwin, Chair, Graduate Group in Cultural Studies, University of California, Davis, USA

"Humor in Latin American Cinema is an outstanding collection of essay that unquestionably fills a research gap with respect to Latin American film! The essays are all well-researched, with significant topics, and involve insightful criticisms and good research conclusions." - David William Foster, Professor, University of Arizona, USA

"The best Latin American cinema learned long ago that life would be intolerable without a grain of humor and used that discovery to criticize society. Almost a dozen very serious scholars are gathered in Humor in Latin American Cinema, surprisingly one of the first of its kind in any language, to explore such an important film tradition. They help us understand why we enjoy and laugh at the genius of Sandrini, Marshall, Cantinflas, Olmedo, and many newer comedians who learned their own techniques from classic authors and a myriad of popular and anonymous sources." – Jorge Ruffinelli, Professor, Stanford University, USA

"Ever since the early triumphs of Cándida, Cantinflas and Oscarito, comedies have counted among Latin American cinema's biggest and most memorable hits. This collection of smart and well-chosen essays fills a gaping hole in Latin American film studies, helping us to understand what makes Latin America laugh and how." – Robert McKee Irwin, Chair, Graduate Group in Cultural Studies, University of California, Davis, USA