Letter From the Editor

From the Editor

From June 1 to 3, 2008, the Annual Colloquium and General Meeting of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States gathered ACHTUS members and guests in South Beach, Florida to focus on the theme of Cultura en lo cotidiano: Intersections of Faith and Popular Culture. This journal is pleased to present revised versions of four of the papers that were discussed during the colloquium. As is the practice of ACHTUS, the papers were developed, presented, and discussed en conjunto, a discussion that began with the presenters themselves even before the colloquium, and that expanded to include the circle of participants around the table in Florida. With the publication of these revised papers in this venue, together with “Theologizing en Espanglish: The Imago Dei in the Vernacular,” the Presidential Address delivered by Carmen Nanko-Fernándezthe circle is widened still further to include the readers of this journal.

The first two papers focus on the subtheme, Teatro de la Vida, and more specifically on the phenomenon of the telenovela. In "¡Dame chisme! dame chocolate! Reflections on God, Life and Gossip in Telenovelas," Neomi DeAnda explores the popular telenovelas Dame Chocolate and Betty la Fea through the lens of chisme, inviting readers (and viewers) to arrive at a deeper understanding of the relationship between human agency and human dignity. In “‘You don’t pay me enough:’ La Salvadora Kenotica in U.S. Film and Television,” Gilberto Cavazos-González adds his analysis of the crossover Ugly Betty to the mix and explores the subtle and not-so-subtle christological echoes of this popular series.

It is especially appropriate that this electronic journal presents two essays that take into consideration the subtheme Realidad Viral: Comunidad and Identity in Cyberspace, examining questions of religious expression and ethnic identity on the Internet. In “Connecting Through a Medium of a Different Nature: The Orishas Go Online,” Obá Oriaté Miguel W. Ramos, a participant in the online community since 1995, gives careful consideration to the place of Lukumí on the Internet. His is an important contribution to the academic study of what he calls the “encounter between the Internet and Orisha worship.” Ramos’ colloquium conversation partner was Jacqueline Hidalgo, who turns to the social networking sites that are an important element of what has been called Web 2.0 in “Scripting Latinidad: Re/Defining Textual Selves and Worlds in the Age of MySpace.” Focusing on MySpace.com and MiGente.com, Hidalgo explores the intersections of textuality, identity, and community.

As this journal offers these essays-in-conversation for the consideration of readers who now enter into the extended discussion of these stimulating questions online, it is our hope that the discussion will continue—going viral, so to speak—and that rich and provocative insights will be the result.