Frank Garcia

Frank Garcia’s research centers on Latina/o/x and American literature, film, and culture; gang and prison literature and film; and critical race and queer studies. He received his Ph.D. in English at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He presented his work on “Revising the Language of #OwnVoices: Racial/ Ethnic Authenticity, Controlling Images, and Gang Life in American Literature” at the Conversation & Connections lunch series at the Institute.

Publications:

• Clicas: Gender, Sexuality, and Latina/o/x Gang Literature and Film (Release Date: Aug. 13, 2024)

• "Revising the Language of #OwnVoices: Racial/Ethnic Authenticity, Controlling Images, and Gang Life in Erika T. Wurth's You Who Enter Here"

• "Queer Whiteness, the Chicana/o/x Family, and El Malinche in Quiñceanera"

Upcoming Projects:

• Current projects: Scholarly article on the queer history and shifting meaning of the term Latinx

• Scholarly article on the representation of racialized sexuality in Disney film

• Second Book Project on the carceral state and American literature

My research thinks through how gender and sexuality intersect with the ways racialized coloniality shapes the life chances of persons of color and documents the literary, filmic, artistic, and lived strategies of survival subaltern populations employ to navigate these conditions, including criminalized activity like the formation of gang subcultures.