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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

I Love Ricky: How Desi Arnaz Challenged American Popular Culture

de los Reyes, Vanessa
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1209136075

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Arts, Miami University, History.
Conformity is often associated with television shows during the 1950s. This idea of conformity is conveyed by images of a white middle class family living in the suburbs with Mom as the happy homemaker and Dad as the breadwinner. There is a television show that strayed from that image: I Love Lucy. Desi Arnaz, who played Ricky Ricardo on the wildly successful television show, gave America a taste of the tropics. He created a Cuban persona suitable for American consumption. Ricky's Cuban culture was a large aspect of the show. He is constantly resisting assimilation. A close examination of the popular television show reveals both Cuban-American tensions and the ways Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz helped smooth them and make the United States in the 1950s a more inclusive place. It also reveals the struggle over an immigrant's identity. I Love Lucy questions the common perception of a mid-century homogenous culture.
Dr. Allan Winkler (Advisor)
Dr. Kevin Armitage (Committee Member)
Dr. Stephen Norris (Committee Member)
31 p.
American History; American Studies; Hispanic Americans; History
I Love Lucy; Desi Arnaz; Ricky Ricardo; television; 1950s

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • de los Reyes, V. (2008). I Love Ricky: How Desi Arnaz Challenged American Popular Culture [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1209136075

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • de los Reyes, Vanessa. I Love Ricky: How Desi Arnaz Challenged American Popular Culture. 2008. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1209136075.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • de los Reyes, Vanessa. "I Love Ricky: How Desi Arnaz Challenged American Popular Culture." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1209136075

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1209136075
19,882
© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.