Frances Negrón-Muntaner
Encyclopedia
Frances Negrón-Muntaner (born 1966) is an award-winning Puerto Rican
filmmaker, writer, and scholar. Her work spans several fields, including cinema, literature, cultural criticism, and politics. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University
in New York City
. She is one of the best-known Puerto Rican lesbian
artists currently living in the United States
.
to a family of academics: both of her parents are professors at the University of Puerto Rico
, Río Piedras
. Her grandfather encouraged her to study film when she was a child. She obtained a Bachelor’s in sociology at the University of Puerto Rico (1986), then a Master's in film and anthropology at Temple University
, Philadelphia (1991, 1994), and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Rutgers University
, New Brunswick
(2000).
, Audience Award at the 1995 San Juan CinemaFest and a Merit Selection at the 1995 Latin American Studies Association
Film Festival), the first Puerto Rican film to examine issues of race, gender and homophobia in the context of migration. This documentary/fiction film is based on Negrón-Muntaner's experiences as a diasporic Puerto Rican lesbian artist and activist in Philadelphia and took five years to make.
. The book also has chapters on West Side Story
, Ricky Martin
, and Holly Woodlawn
, with interesting insights about Puerto Rican homosexuality in the United States. Negrón-Muntaner has also edited several additional books, including None of the Above: Puerto Ricans in the Global Era (Palgrave 2007) and Sovereign Acts (South End Press, 2009).
During her three-year tenure as NALIP's board chair, Negrón-Muntaner actively participated in the creation of the organization’s signature programs (the annual conference, Latino Producers Academy, and Latino Writers Lab). She has also been part of the leadership responsible for the organization’s transformation from a startup operation with a few hundred members in 1999 into the country’s most important Latino producer organization, with over a thousand members and a $1 million budget.
, Truman, Scripps Howard, Rockefeller, and 1994 Pew Fellowships in the Arts
. Major foundations and public television funding sources have also supported her work. For her work as a filmmaker, advocate, and scholar, she was named as one of the nation’s "100 Most influential Latinos" by Hispanic Business Magazine
in 2005.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
filmmaker, writer, and scholar. Her work spans several fields, including cinema, literature, cultural criticism, and politics. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She is one of the best-known Puerto Rican lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
artists currently living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Life and Education
Negrón-Muntaner was born in San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
to a family of academics: both of her parents are professors at the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
, Río Piedras
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus
The University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras , also referred to as UPR-RP, is a public research university located on a campus in Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico...
. Her grandfather encouraged her to study film when she was a child. She obtained a Bachelor’s in sociology at the University of Puerto Rico (1986), then a Master's in film and anthropology at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, Philadelphia (1991, 1994), and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
(2000).
Films
Since the late 1980s, Negrón-Muntaner has been exploring issues of sexuality, colonialism, nationalism, and migration in Puerto Rican/Latino diasporic communities. In 1989, she directed AIDS in the Barrio: Eso no me pasa a mí, an educational documentary about the situation of the Puerto Rican community in Philadelphia and their responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis. In 1994, she released the award-winning Brincando el charco: Portrait of a Puerto Rican (1995 Whitney BiennialWhitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
, Audience Award at the 1995 San Juan CinemaFest and a Merit Selection at the 1995 Latin American Studies Association
Latin American Studies Association
The Latin American Studies Association is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 6,000 members, forty-five percent of whom reside outside the United States, LASA brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse...
Film Festival), the first Puerto Rican film to examine issues of race, gender and homophobia in the context of migration. This documentary/fiction film is based on Negrón-Muntaner's experiences as a diasporic Puerto Rican lesbian artist and activist in Philadelphia and took five years to make.
Scholarship
Negrón-Muntaner is a prolific scholar. In 1997, she co-edited with Ramón Grosfoguel the anthology Puerto Rican Jam: Rethinking Colonialism and Nationalism. In 2004, Negrón-Muntaner published Boricua Pop: Puerto Ricans and the Latinization of American Culture (CHOICE Award 2004), a collection of essays that included “Jennifer’s Butt,” a landmark text for the discussion of contemporary U.S. popular culture. In this essay, the author focuses on media representations of Jennifer LopezJennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
. The book also has chapters on West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
, Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
, and Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn
Holly Woodlawn is a Puerto Rican-born transgendered actress and former Warhol superstar, who appeared in his movies Trash and Women in Revolt .-Early life:...
, with interesting insights about Puerto Rican homosexuality in the United States. Negrón-Muntaner has also edited several additional books, including None of the Above: Puerto Ricans in the Global Era (Palgrave 2007) and Sovereign Acts (South End Press, 2009).
Political Activism
In 1997, Negrón-Muntaner wrote the first draft of what was to become “The Radical Statehood Manifesto,” a political intervention that sought to challenge conventional ideas of sovereignty in the Caribbean.Latino Media Advocacy
Negrón-Muntaner has also contributed to the founding of programs and institutions to disseminate the work of Latino filmmakers and intellectuals. She is the founder of Miami Light Project's Filmmakers Workshop, the organizer/fundraiser of several conferences on Puerto Rican/Latino affairs, and a founding board member and former chair of NALIP, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.During her three-year tenure as NALIP's board chair, Negrón-Muntaner actively participated in the creation of the organization’s signature programs (the annual conference, Latino Producers Academy, and Latino Writers Lab). She has also been part of the leadership responsible for the organization’s transformation from a startup operation with a few hundred members in 1999 into the country’s most important Latino producer organization, with over a thousand members and a $1 million budget.
Awards
For her work as a scholar and filmmaker, Negrón-Muntaner has received FordFord Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, Truman, Scripps Howard, Rockefeller, and 1994 Pew Fellowships in the Arts
Pew Fellowships in the Arts
The Pew Fellowships in the Arts is an organization established by the Pew Charitable Trusts in 1991 which awards grants to Philadelphia-area artists. The grants provide artists with an economic freedom that presents the opportunity to focus on their individual practices over a considerable period...
. Major foundations and public television funding sources have also supported her work. For her work as a filmmaker, advocate, and scholar, she was named as one of the nation’s "100 Most influential Latinos" by Hispanic Business Magazine
Hispanic Business
Hispanic Business, Inc. is a media company based in Goleta, California, in the United States of America. The firm was founded by Jesús Chavarría in 1979 and its publications are oriented towards Hispanic professionals and entrepreneurs.-Publications:...
in 2005.
See also
- LGBT literatureLGBT literatureGay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the LGBT community, or which involves characters, plot lines or themes portraying male homosexual behavior.-Subgenres:...
- LGBT rights in Puerto RicoLGBT rights in Puerto RicoLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons in Puerto Rico face some legal issues. Public discussion and debate about sexual orientation and gender identity issues have increased, and some legal changes have been made. Currently, both supporters and opponents of legislation protecting the rights...
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
- List of LGBT writers
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- Puerto Rican literature
- Puerto Ricans in the United StatesPuerto Ricans in the United StatesStateside Puerto Ricans are American citizens of Puerto Rican origin, including those who migrated from Puerto Rico to the United States and those who were born outside of Puerto Rico in the United States...
- Queer studiesQueer studiesQueer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and cultures. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis Sexual Diversity Studies, Sexualities...