CASE STUDY: Shakira & her star text in
relation to her racial/national identity
BLONDE, SEXY,
EXOTIC
HIPS DON'T LIE SHAKIRA SHAKIRA
BELLY- DANCING!!
SPANISH-SPEAKING
POPSTAR!!
By Olivia Atkins, Louise Raw & Stephen
Shirley
Shakira's Background
Imagined Geographies: The
deconstruction of Shakira
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"Woman full of grace"
"I am a walking contradiction...
but I accept all of the
contradictions within me"
[Morgans]
Hyphenated Ethnicity:
Lebanese-Colombian
Barranquilla - Prominent
Syro-Lebanese
community
"Even at the top of her
profession, she's just a
girl from Barranquilla"
(García Márquez)
"Olá! Bongiorno!
Hello! Hola! ‫"!مرحبا‬
Rise To Fame
Magia 1990
Peligro 1993
ORAL FIXATION 1 & 2
Visual Identity
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Hair & Body (concerns with alienating homegrown fans)
Dancing
Ability to adapt
Shakira is the
First World values vs exotic threat
Idealised
Shakira markets herself as the "other"
Transnational Citizen
(Elena Cepeda)
Lyrical Identity
HIPS DON'T LIE :
Let me see you move like you come from Colombia
Mira en Barranquilla se baila así, say it!
Yeah, she's so sexy, every man's fantasy
A refugee like me back with the Fugees
from a 3rd world country
Why the CIA wanna watch us?
Colombians and Haitians
I ain't guilty, it's a musical transaction
No more do we snatch ropes
Refugees run the seas 'cause we own our own boats
Lyrical Identity
"she rather pointedly expressed her
plan to 'conquer' the world through
her music" in Latina magazine, 2001.
This is the same year that she
released WW, and the clip we have
just shown you clearly demonstrates
her ambitious determination to reach
the top.
Right: Shakira front-cover of
Rolling Stones, 2009
Lyrical Identity
WHENEVER, WHEREVER:
Lucky that my breasts are small and humble
So you don't confuse them with mountains
Lucky I have strong legs like my mother
To run for cover when I need it
Lucky you were born that far away so
We could both make fun of distance
Lucky that I love a foreign land for
The lucky fact of your existence
Identity & Shakira as a Brand
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4th richest woman in music!
Has featured in films and recorded for soundtracks
Numerous reality TV Shows
Adverts: Pepsi & Verizon
Created 'pies descalzos' foundation
Has held benefit concerts to raise money
Pies Descalzos
"Education really saves lives.
Education is key." - Shakira
S by Shakira
International Identity
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Unicef - Ambassador
Madonna & anti-Iraq video
Colombia cocaine problems
Israeli relations
Beirut gig - Father
WAKA WAKA world cup
Gabriel García Márquez
Won Grammies & Hollywood walk of fame
International family: Pique
Conclusion
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Hyphenated ethnicity
Shakira as a contradiction : embraces
multiple ethnic identities
Crosses boundaries/borders
Multilingual
Bibliography
Cepeda, M. E. (2010) Musical ImagiNation: U.S. Colombian Identity and the Latin Music Boom New York:New York University Press
Dennison, S. & Lim, S. H. (2006) Remapping World Cinema: Identity, culture and politics in film. London: Wallflower
Diego, X. (2002) Shakira: Woman Full of Grace New York:Simon and Schuster
Fuchs, C. N. ' "There's My Territory": Shakira crossing over' in From Bananas to Buttocks; The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture ed. by
M. Mendible. Texas:University of Texas Press, 2007, pp.167-181.
García Canclini, N. (1995) Hybrid Cultures. Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity London:University of Minnesota Press
García Márquez, G. (2002) 'The Poet and the Princess' in Guardian Weekend, 8th June, pp.16-19 Accessed on 18/11/2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2002/jun/08/shopping.colombia
Gontovnik, M. 'Tracking Transnational Shakira on Her Way to Conquer the World', Zona Próxima:Revista del Instituto de Estudios en
Educación, no.13 (2010), pp.142-155.
Roccio Nacer, M. (2008) Tra(n)zando Identidades: Colombian Neighborhoods, Images, and Narratives from Narco-Trafficking to Beauty
Queens Ann Arbor: Proquest