“Latinx” (pronounced la-tin-eks) refers to individuals of Latin American origin living in the US, who don’t identify with the gender binary. According to Google trends, the “x” initially gained popularity in the LGBTQIA+ community and in academic circles around 2004. From 2016 onwards, popularity increased and the expression became widespread throughout the US and appeared among others in the exhibition catalogue for Radical Women: Latin American Art 1960-1985. In their introduction, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta affirm the use of categories such as “Chicana” and “Latina”, instead of “Chicanx” and “Latinx” considering that the discussion was not relevant for the historical period encompassed by the sample.
The term “Latinx” is an update of traditional labels such as “Hispanic” and “Latin”, which emerged around the mid-20th century to describe Latin American migrant communities in the United States. The term “Hispanic” was adopted in the seventies to denominate communities whose language and historical heritage was associated with Spain. The term “Latin” – which met greater acceptance in the Latin American community – transcended the linguistic barrier by including, both from a geographical point of view the Spanish-speaking, but also the Portuguese-speaking groups as well as indigenous dialects. Later, the use of the endings “o”, “a” and “@” sought to create an inclusive space; feminine and masculine.
“Latinx”, like “Latino” and “Hispanic”, is a socially constructed concept and a product of the marginalizing conditions of the designated community. They are problematic notions in that they assume a homogeneous “Latin” identity. Nonetheless, these notions generate very interesting discussions on the means of access and artistic consumption for a community that lives between two, three or more cultural environments in the United States.
Fundamentally, the arguments against the term “Latinx” focus on the linguistic construction of the word which is not constricted by the obligatory gender rules in Castilian Spanish. However, “Latinx” is a concept that does not pertain to Latin America, nor does it pretend to define the artistic or social processes in the region. It does however facilitate the inclusion of these debates in the discourse on Latin America and the Latin American diaspora. “Latinx” includes people who have been born, educated or naturalized in the United States; hence, their speech reflects the cross-over between Spanish and English, among other possible combinations. During his years of exile in New York, Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica invented his own language between English and Portuguese. His notebooks, Newyorkaises – meanwhile relatively forgotten in comparison to his previous stage – reveal influences from Gertrude Stein, Brazilian concrete poetry, Vito Acconci and Yoko Ono.
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