I would like to say that I cannot believe it is the end of term, better yet the end of my four years here at UBC but I am so happy. I have learned a lot about popular culture through this course and even some of my own heritage as well which I am grateful for. Isolation has not been easy on any of us, but having sessions over zoom has had its perks.

As for my favourite topic from this course, I would like to say that I enjoyed learning about narcocorridos. That week blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it in Mexico as I usually listen to just Latin pop or folkloric music when I am there. That being said, I had never been exposed to the more underground genres of Mexican popular culture as my family, which is a mix of socio-economic backgrounds, mostly live in those gated communities discussed in our week about telenovelas. I also really enjoyed the fighting Cholitas, I actually showed the video to my sister and she was more confused than anything ahaha.

Anyways, best of luck to everyone on their projects and finals, I also hope everyone stays safe and happy this summer 🙂

This piece about mobile media use helped me more fully register (if that makes sense) the cultural intricacies associated with the phenomenon. Just like Grandinetti and Eszenyi (2018) highlight, “Within infrastructures of high-speed and mobile connectivity, immediate access to content is part of social routines.” is something that we as Westerners take for granted because we are not aware of our production of spatiality and spatial experience (p.875). 

That being said, I was intrigued by the description of contemporary Cuba and its recent past interacting with technological infrastructures. Legacies of military and economic power, colonialism, and international corporate interests while negotiating with a socialist government have created this contested public sphere that has divided older Cubans afraid of becoming marginalized if Cuba becomes capitalist while younger Cubans want a greater connection outside of the country. Cuba’s history represented on billboards, revolutionary monuments, murals, framed artwork, and t-shirts are inter-related with the use of wifi hot-spots in public areas such as parks. However, despite increased web access, most internet connectivity isn’t readily available in domestic spaces unless you are wealthy and must be shared communally in public hot spots. The country is already marginalized along class lines so the greater introduction of international markets and increase in connectivity would only ameliorate some of the quality of living in Cuba.

Hector German Oesterfeld and Francisco Solano Lopez’s comic Eternaut had me hooked, especially with its cliff-hanger. Maybe because I am in the international relations program, the micro and macro political aspects portrayed in this comic I thought were very intriguing.

At least in what we can generalize as the Global North, the Cold War would usually only include state actors in the US and Europe. The same went for the two World Wars despite any contributions from Latin American countries or other continents. So, that kind of dismissive attitude displayed at the beginning of the comic when the eternaut is playing cards with his friends can be interpreted in multiple ways. In the context I have already mentioned, I think the most natural response is to be apathetic towards politics or events that you do not think affects you directly (I do not take this stance but it is a common one) which is what these characters do until they see the immediate effects of the deadly ‘snow’ outside their window. Moreover, the comic shows how nobody in Buenos Aires was prepared for such a disaster which further exemplifies my earlier point. In the U.S. during the cold war era, especially during the 1950s, there were so many preparations and drills for nuclear bombings in schools and at home (which were proven to be not effective in the least), as well as bunkers being made underground but the intention was there. So, when the time came and the actions of the U.S. and the USSR did have a larger rippling effect than intended, those all the way in Latin America had no escape except in this fictional scenario where these group of friends and the eternaut’s family get creative to make a suit that will allow them to scavenge for supplies in this apocalyptic world.

On a more contemporary note, the dismissive attitude at the beginning of the comic is still relevant today since Western media still excludes most headlining global news, even in this increasingly interconnected system we call globalization. Which reiterates the notion of apathy towards events that we do not think directly affect us but they do. And in doing so, we not only disempower and invalidate the stories of other nations, but the lack of exposure also thwarts opportunity that comes with exposure such as more resources, networks, investment, and so forth. Maybe that is the intention, or maybe it is another ripple effect from the West that we are not aware of.

Question for this week: How else can these dismissive attitudes in The Eternaut be interpreted in the context of Latin American popular culture?

For this week’s reading(s), I found the content of Canals’ article intriguing but found his ‘take-away’ message a bit alarming.

The positive aspect I want to address is that exposure to a Latin American religion other than catholicism is always welcome, since popular media does not make it readily available.  I appreciate how Canals’ anthropological research was done in a respectful manner, documented how a somewhat ‘invisible’ cultural practice is performed to a presumable Western audience, given that the text was written in English, and some context to how it is significant within Venezuelan society. However, I did find his concluding message conflicting as it suggests disrespecting cultural norms to collect more data.

‘visual mistakes’, as Canals’ refers to wrongly capturing cultural practices to ‘collect valuable data for research’, could be avoided altogether if he asked the right questions with consent from those he wished to collect data from. Moreover, Canals could have used another medium to record his data, such as writing or sketching, as to not invade privacy or interfere with cultural practices. His methodology and encouragement to other visual anthropologists thus highlight some ethical questions that tread the line of humanizing, dehumanizing, and integrity.

As for the actual content within the text, I wondered why the more evolved version of Maria Lionza is a white woman. Maybe it’s racism, maybe it follows the chronological history of Venezuela from pre-conquest to present, but it definitely reinforces some harmful norms that are common in Latin America. Language, either oral, captured through a medium, or behavioural, shapes the way you think and perceive the world so it is interesting how such a mixed population would continue to validate this concept.

Lastly, I do not really understand why the religion of Maria Lionza is called a cult if it is the second most practiced religion in Venezuela, whose population is almost 29 million. At this point, I am no longer critiquing Canals but Western interpretations of African or Indigenous religions in general. The term cult is used to define a social movement rather than a religion at all, which is offensive given that these religions have been performed for centuries or even more than millennia. I do not see why Voodoo, Candomblé, or Maria Lionza should be considered a myth or cult given their cultural significance. Especially if many people practice this religion, I do not see how they are a ‘secret’; maybe given that the West is not in close proximity to the communities that practice these religions and that the values from the religions we are familiar with conflict with those found in Maria Lionza and so forth is the reason we do not take them as seriously.

Therefore, my question to the class is – how did you find Canals’ writing? Methodology?

Before reading this article by Jack Child, I had never really registered the soft power associated with postage stamps, along with their cultural messages and historical significance. Something so casually overlooked as most people only appreciate its functional and/or aesthetic value and yet Child makes it seem like he has opened the pandora’s box on world history, and in this case that of Latin America, by just analyzing postage from our recent past.

Through a semiotic approach, the article makes themes such as nationalism, politics, and economics seem glaringly obvious to someone who may not have processed how the postage stamp can be used as a propaganda tool. Since the mail is being sent from within and outside state boundaries, it makes sense as an effective way to advertise your country’s ideals or primary exports. It can also open old political wounds, as in the case of Belize and Guatemala, Venezuela and Guyana, and many other conflicts of interests in Latin America due to moved borderlines in the maps drawn in their postage and the slogans that accompany them.

And in this sense as well, the images and slogans that these Latin American governments chose to highlight and send all over the world helped forge an idea of what their popular culture is. Whether it be the 1970 Mexico City stamp for the World Soccer Cup Games or the competitive coffee stamps amongst the major producers (Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, and several other central American nations), seeing these images repetitively not only on postage has informed foreigners and locals alike that ‘fútbol’ and coffee beans are items that define popular culture in Latin America.

What I found the most intriguing, however, is the lack of representation for women that Child noted. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was some representation such as stamps including Evita Perón, or heroines of Revolutionary movements but that was about it. Therefore, I strongly believe this bias comes from machismo that is embedded in Latin American society. Just in the production of stamps that predominantly celebrate the accomplishments of men relay that only their achievements are valid in the same way that they promote other cultural aspects of their countries. In this sense, machismo can be seen as an item of popular culture as well, as it is subliminally reinforced by governments and is encouraged by large sections of the LA population.

Overall, I thought Jack Child’s article was an excellent read. The flow of the article built up rather smoothly and introduced the reader to concepts such as semiotics concisely so that we could easily digest his argument. Plus, the content itself was interesting, but I may just think that because I enjoy everything political.

So, the question for this week is: Do you think Child left out any important themes that can be conveyed from stamps? Why?

What struck me in particular about Williams’ article was the attention to detail when emphasizing that culture is ‘ordinary’. As described by Williams, popular culture is made for and by the people of a particular society regardless of status. He notes the individual characteristics, professions, and inner workings of the town he grew up in to highlight that each person, each town contributes to the whole while maintaining their individuality. Simultaneously, people can contribute and ascribe to a shared set of practices and beliefs on the national level and in their own localities. Culture is a common resource, and its validity exists outside social hierarchies.

From that point of view, it is easy to find euro-centrism as an elitist critic of cultural practices in the Global South. The events and rituals that are performed by the marginalized are often dismissed despite defining many moments in popular culture. Reggaetón, for example, was created by Afro-Latinx communities in the Caribbean but became popularized through Spanish artists in recent years, as well as these same popular artists borrowing clothing and hairstyles from the African diaspora to promote their music without acknowledging the cultures that inspired them.

That being said, do any of you agree with the sentiment that popular culture is ordinary? That it exists outside the bounds of social class?

 

Saludos a todos! My name is Ayla and I am a 4th year International Relations major. I am a Vancouverite as I have lived here my whole life, but have a keen interest in Latin American popular culture as I am half-Mexican myself. Every couple of years or so I get to visit my family and Mexico, but for the most part, I have to experience my own culture through media. 

Generally speaking, I enjoy listening to Spanish music, dancing, and learning about as many things as possible. I currently speak 3 languages and learning 2 more, with the hopes of learning 8 in total. Learning about world politics also consumes a lot of my time in and out of school because I genuinely find it fascinating and would like to get involved one day.