Some Concluding Remarks

The conclusion of the book revisits and answers the initial questions described in the introduction: who or what counts as tico? How have challenged to national identity been constructed in the country? It posits that the wave of nationalist rhetoric seen globally in this second decade of the twenty-first century stems from the same processes and beliefs that created the tico norm, thus creating fierce oppositions within nations between those wanting an end to exclusionary national identities and those who want to build up their borders even further.

Reflecting the Nation: Costa Rican Cinema in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter argues that cinema has been the primary creative vehicle to reflect on national – tico – identity in Costa Rica in the twenty-first century, and it begins with an overview of the industry. Considering the ways in which film is uniquely positioned to challenge social norms through the creation of affective narratives and through the visibility it can offer to otherwise marginalised groups, this chapter analyses four films by key directors. Beginning with an exploration of Esteban Ramírez’s Gestación, it considers youth culture, gender, and class as non-normative spaces in the city of San José. Similarly, Jurgen Ureña’s Abrázame como antes is then discussed from the point of view of its ground-breaking portrayal of trans women in the capital. Two films shot at the geographic margins of the nation are then discussed, with the uncanny coastline the focus of Paz Fábrega’s Agua fría de mar and the marginalized Afro-Costa Rican province of Limón the focus of Patricia Velásquez’s Dos aguas.

The Creation of Tiquicidad and Theories of National Identity

This chapter delves into the psyche of Costa Rica’s identity, providing a historical and sociological analysis of the creation of the dominant – tico – identity from 1870 to the present day, framing these around theories of colonial discourse. Considering work by postcolonial scholars such as Benedict Anderson, Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, and Judith Butler, it explores how the discourse of centre and ‘Other’ has been created within the nation. It then provides a historical account of ‘Otherness’ within the nation, detailing the existence and rights won by Afro-Costa Rican, feminist, and LGBTQ+ groups, detailing a framework of hybrid subalternity which will be used to consider the challenges put forward to dominant national identity in chapters two and three.

Coded Messages: Costa Rican Protest Literature, 1970–1985

This chapter posits that the 1970s in Costa Rica was a period of sociological revolution whereby dominant ideas of national identity began to be openly challenged. It analyses the protest literature of this period written by three key authors: Quince Duncan, Carmen Naranjo, and Alfonso Chase. Firstly considering Duncan’s Los cuatro espejos, it explores this novel as an example of the harmful practices of stereotyping and the internalisation of norms. It then considers the feminist subtext of Naranjo’s short stories ‘Simbiosis del encuentro’ and ‘A los payasos todos los quieren’, before moving on to analyse homosexual codes apparent in Chase’s short stories ‘La lluvia. El Silencio. La Música’.

Introduction

This introductory chapter defines what being tico means in Costa Rica, demonstrating its equation with an exclusive and exclusionary national identity that revolves around race, class, religion, and the myth of a common ancestry. It goes on to detail those groups and communities that have traditionally been excluded from the normative conception of Costa Rica’s national identity, such as people of colour, women, and LGBTQ+ peoples. It includes the book’s key arguments and outlines the chapter structures.