Performing Culture and Problematizing Identity through “Anything for Selena”

ABSTRACT

Podcasts cover a wide range of topics and genres that can be created and developed for diverse and niche audiences. Using an inductive approach, we explore the connections and insights the podcast Anything for Selena offers about parasociality, celebrity grieving, and diasporic Latina/o/x identity, in the context of Selena as a brand. Themes follow acts of performing culture, posthumous branding, aspirational identity, and parasocial grieving across traditional and new digital media. A focus on multilingual and multicultural Latina/o/x identity revealed narrative nuances specific to the target audience. Selena’s crossover appeal, augmented by engaged niche groups in podcast communities, remains relevant for the 2020s and beyond.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. https://www.instagram.com/selena_podcast/?hl=en.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M. Olguta Vilceanu

M. Olguta Vilceanu is an Associate Professor at Rowan University. Her research includes consumer behavior and podcast advertising; brand communication and news media; strategic and crisis communication; and diversity, equity and inclusion with a focus on medical students.

Arthur D. Soto-Vásquez

Arthur D. Soto-Vasquez is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Texas A&M International University. His research interests include identity making in online media, Latinx communication, and popular culture.