CASE STUDY: Shakira & her star text in relation to her racial/national identity

By Olivia Atkins, Louise Raw & Stephen Shirley

BELLY- DANCING!!

SPANISH-SPEAKING POPSTAR!!

BLONDE, SEXY, EXOTIC

HIPS DON'T LIE -SHAKIRA SHAKIRA

Shakira's Background

Imagined Geographies: The deconstruction of Shakira

• "Woman full of grace"

• 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)

"I am a walking contradiction... but I accept all of the

contradictions within me" [Morgans]

"Olá! Bongiorno! Hello! Hola! مرحبا!"

Rise To Fame

Magia 1990 Peligro 1993

ORAL FIXATION 1 & 2

Visual Identity• Hair & Body (concerns with alienating homegrown fans)

• Dancing

• Ability to adapt

• First World values vs exotic threat

• Shakira markets herself as the "other"

Shakira is the Idealised

Transnational Citizen (Elena Cepeda)

Lyrical Identity HIPS DON'T LIE : Let me see you move like you come from ColombiaMira en Barranquilla se baila así, say it!

Yeah, she's so sexy, every man's fantasyA refugee like me back with the Fugees from a 3rd world country

Why the CIA wanna watch us?Colombians and HaitiansI ain't guilty, it's a musical transaction

No more do we snatch ropesRefugees run the seas 'cause we own our own boats

Lyrical Identity

Right: Shakira front-cover of Rolling Stones, 2009

"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.

Lyrical IdentityWHENEVER, WHEREVER:

Lucky that my breasts are small and humbleSo you don't confuse them with mountainsLucky I have strong legs like my motherTo run for cover when I need it

Lucky you were born that far away soWe could both make fun of distanceLucky that I love a foreign land forThe lucky fact of your existence

Identity & Shakira as a Brand• 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

S by Shakira

Pies Descalzos"Education really saves lives. Education is key." - Shakira

International Identity

• 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

• Hyphenated ethnicity• Shakira as a contradiction : embraces

multiple ethnic identities• Crosses boundaries/borders• Multilingual

BibliographyCepeda, 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

Said, E. (1978) Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient London:Routledge and Kegan

Shaw, L. & Dennison, S. (2005) Pop Culture Latin America!: media, arts and lifestyle London:ABC-CLIO pp.50-6.

Shaw, L. & Dennison, S. (eds.) (2005) Latin American Cinema. Essays on Modernity, Gender and National Identity London: McFarland

http://www.michel-foucault.com/concepts/index.html- The Work of Michel Foucaulthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3zIxuQlWeo- Shakira and García Márquez Dancing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-vhSXqpTS4- MTV Being Shakirahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weRHyjj34ZE Shakira- Whenever, Whereverhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM- Shakira- Hips Don't Lie