Cultura y cine: Hispanoamérica hoy by Mary McVey Gill and Teresa Méndez-Faith (review)

Cultura y cine: Hispanoamérica hoy is an engaging text that addresses the needs and interests of today’s learners. By using film as a springboard, McVey and Méndez create opportunities for students to draw parallels between their own lives and those of the peoples from different Latin American countries. It is also an extremely well-structured text that is both learner and instructor-friendly. The authors include five “Vistazos panorámicos” that present general information relevant to the entire Latin American world and eight chapters, each of which is centered around a different contemporary film and focuses on a specific country. The first of these vistazos is a brief but thorough overview of important geographical facts, maps, and vocabulary, and explains the difference between the terms Latinoamérica (those countries that were colonized by Spain, Portugal or France) and Hispanoamérica (only those that the Spaniards colonized). The other four vistazos are equally helpful and deal with politics and education, immigration and exile, beliefs and customs, and family and economic structure, respectively. Though all the information in the textbook is relevant and interesting, the vistazos and their corresponding lessons can be taught in any order and not all the material included needs to be covered for the student to have an enriching experience.

Each chapter begins with a short introduction that not only presents the film but also suggests very general questions to encourage students to begin thinking about the themes to be discussed. McVey and Méndez then include a well-selected vocabulary list. The authors indicate that each of the words is used at least twice in the film. The terms are grouped thematically, the gender of nouns is clearly indicated, and any irregular verb changes are noted within parenthesis. Each chapter also contains a brief chronology of key historical events that are relevant for a full appreciation of the film, a list of main characters, and a series of exploratory questions designed to test plot comprehension. The number of dates is not overwhelming and is geared towards understanding rather than memorization. The questions increase in difficulty level and serve as an excellent guide for students as they view the movie alone, with peers or with the class as a whole. McVey and Méndez develop additional cultural notes for each film that further explain the historical context and discuss regional differences in the language. The themes for the discussion and evaluation sections facilitate a more nuanced analysis of the work and create opportunities for creativity and introspection.

After the film discussion, each chapter contains a Perspectives section and a Press section. While not related to the film per se but rather to the general questions raised, the Perspectives offered are actual interviews with Hispanic Americans, some who live in their native country and some who live in the United States. The Press feature contains authentic articles from journals from the Hispanic world. By giving voice to a wide variety of individuals, from students to politicians, from scientists to priests, McVey and Méndez successfully illustrate the powerful realities to which these films refer. In what is already an impressive text, the Activities section stands out as the strongest feature and truly reflects the authors’ understanding of the modern student’s passions. Traditional assignments such as compositions and debates are suggested but there is an emphasis on collaborative active learning, such as the student creation of wikis, mash-ups, video interviews, virtual tours, and timelines. Each chapter includes recommendations for Google searches on historical issues and YouTube videos on representative musical genres.

Cultura y cine does not include grammatical explanations and is designed for intermediate and advanced students. It is an extremely versatile text that can be used as part of a Spanish, Latin American Studies, or Film Studies curriculum and the chapters can be studied in any order. It effectively targets the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening...