Sounds of Belonging

How Spanish-language radio has influenced American and Latino discourse on key current affairs issues such as citizenship and immigration.

Winner, Book of the Year presented by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education

Honorable Mention for the 2015 Latino Studies Best Book presented by the Latin American Studies Association

The

last two decades have produced continued Latino population growth, and marked

shifts in both communications and immigration policy. Since the 1990s, Spanish-

language radio has dethroned English-language radio stations in major cities

across the United States, taking over the number one spot in Los Angeles,

Houston, Miami, and New York City. Investigating the cultural and political

history of U.S. Spanish-language broadcasts throughout the twentieth century, Sounds

of Belonging reveals how these changes have helped Spanish-language radio

secure its dominance in the major U.S. radio markets.



Bringing together theories on the immigration experience with

sound and radio studies, Dolores Inés Casillas documents

how Latinos form listening relationships with Spanish-language radio

programming. Using a vast array of sources, from print culture and industry

journals to sound archives of radio programming, she reflects on institutional

growth, the evolution of programming genres, and reception by the radio

industry and listeners to map the trajectory of Spanish-language radio, from

its grassroots origins to the current corporate-sponsored business it has

become. Casillas focuses on Latinos’ use of Spanish-language radio to help

navigate their immigrant experiences with U.S. institutions, for example in

broadcasting discussions about immigration policies while providing anonymity

for a legally vulnerable listenership. Sounds of Belonging proposes that

debates of citizenship are not always formal personal appeals but a collective

experience heard loudly through broadcast radio.