Author Archives: DylanMorin

NarcoNovelas

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I really loved getting a more complex understanding of the narconovelas this week because I am a frequent watcher of telenovelas and occasionally narconovelas. However, I do find that occasionally these novels can be a reflection of society because if we go back to the section on narcocorridos there is a deeply rooted connection between the public and this content. There is an understanding that the narco is a part of the culture (even though it is often viewed negatively) because it is the reality of so many people. My boyfriend (who has a very negative view of the narco) recognizes the overlap that the narco has had in his life. Especially, from being in direct contact with people who have associations in these organizations.

As I had said before, there is a romanticization of the narco, there is a luxury that comes along with it. Even though it is filled with violence and tragedy there is a luxury that comes with the wealth that narcotraficantes have, and to desire that isn’t naturally bad.  I think that is partly why that the narconovelas are very popular because they are a fantasy, which doesn’t mean that the viewers actually want to do the things that are portrayed in the novelas. They can be the image of escaping poverty and providing for a family.

And I guess there also the question: Are narconovelas critiques or glorification?  Well, I do want to believe that they are critiques and only on the basis of what was said in the lecture video. That often the villains are painted in such a negative way, and because of that, I think that it is a critique. The surgeons are scummy, the traffickers are scummy, and the politicians are also scummy. They show what they believe to be the worst type of people in society in a black and white way.

Question: “Are narconovelas challenging or glorifying that drug trade within Latin America?”

Eternaut

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I’m really grateful for this refreshing read for this week because when I was a kid I did have a thing for graphic novels and comic books. I also spent my first two years of uni in an international relations program, so it was nice to come back to the topic of the Cold War.

Furthermore, I thought that the purpose of this comic book was almost a survival guide-esque comic that provided the public with ideas on how to potentially survive a nuclear disaster. I thought that it was so interesting that Favalli was this almost anthropomorphism of a textbook to survive a nuclear disaster. Each character in the comic served a very distinct purpose in conveying this message (how to survive the apocalypse). They had the perfect family (husband, wife, and child) which symbolizes what is needed to protect in the long-term. Also, the naive friend who charges into the outside and inevitably gets killed by the snow because of his irrational thought process. A common theme in the comic was the communal courage that everyone had to have to make it through the event, even the child.

I also thought that this comic was a prime example of the thought process of the Argentinian public during the Cold War because often I think that the South’s perspective often gets overlooked. Without having read the Translator’s notes, I wouldn’t have immediately made that assumption solely based on the education I’ve received up to this point. I know there was a common fear that plague the war during the Cold War, however, it is clear that the fear in Latin America would have been very nuanced in comparison to that of the Northern powers. I think in the North there was more political fear with a  combination of physical fear. Whereas, in Latin America, there must have been the same level of fear, but with almost zero responsibility for any part of the war.

Question for Discussion: In what ways does the comic “Eternaut” showcase the unique perspective of the Argentines (of Latin Americans) during the Cold War era? How is it unique from that of the Canadian or American experience?

Moro no Brasil

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I found this film a great way to discover in more detail the types of peoples that live in Brazil. It was really beautiful to see all the diversity in the country because I think that often works about Brazil can be a lot more focused on specific perspectives. I think an argument that could potentially arise in class is the reliability of the film as a source since the director is Finnish, however, if this is what he has spent a large amount of time studying it then I think that it is a sufficient amount of accreditation, and besides the film accomplished what it set out to do, paint a picture of the musical diversity in Brazil.

One of the things that stood out to me is that there seem to be many community leaders who are searching to pass down traditions through music, especially when they are engaging the children in those traditions. It seemed very joyful that music seemed so easily embraced by so many communities, which is something that I think differs from Western societies, where unorganized music can often be discouraged because of preference for organized music. What I mean by organized and disorganized is that organized music being recorded, produced, and ‘professional’, and the disorganized being street, rural, improvised, etc.

I think the film gives a lot of voice to the people of Brazil, who would never otherwise be given to share their story or their art. I think this is the main reason I enjoyed the film the way I did because it gave a way for people to speak their truth. Not only that, but I think that is something that we should talk about in class this week, as well as a theme that maybe we haven’t touched on enough this semester, but the class does have a limited amplitude.

Question: What is the director’s role in a film like this, and how may it differ from other films?
What is the role of indigenous voice in popular cultures?

Soccer as Society as Culture

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I found this week’s reading to be surprisingly captivating because I’m a nerd who doesn’t play sports. However, I feel like I picked up on the theme of the different representatives in the story as an aspect or category of culture. For instance, the idol and the goal-keeper represent a specific type of person within a culture, the goalie being the protector (at all costs) and the idol being the glowing example (the person or thing to follow or be). For a game of soccer to be played, there are so many factors that need to be taken into account, different groups of people with individual responsibilities to make the gears turn. And, just like culture, everybody has a responsibility to make sure the wheels turn and that the game gets played.

This article also plays with the idea of introducing new concepts into a culture, for example, the influence that Britain had on the development of Argentine and Uruguayan soccer. It is a new idea and concept being added into a culture, shaking up the dynamic because in the end culture is dynamic, and it will always be. In our globalized world, there is always going to be external influences entering.

Culture also has negative histories as well as soccer. The treatment of black athletes in the game against Chile and Uruguay brings attention to this that culture isn’t free from criticism and that it should recuperate and acknowledge these histories to grow. If a culture (or sport) wishes to grow that it needs to hold itself accountable for its past actions and blossom into a better version of itself.

All in all, it is clear what this article is really trying to say, that just like sport, culture is ever-changing and dynamic, that there is a list of rules and regulations that need to be followed if you seek to actively participate in it. Because, if a culture doesn’t stop changing it gets boring and if sport doesn’t change it gets boring.

Question: How can soccer reflect culture, and how may culture reflect soccer? Which has more impact?

The Fighting Cholitas: Indigenous Power

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Though I’m not one for sport, I found the short-film on the fighting cholitas very insightful, especially in a post-colonial setting. I think that any mode for indigenous communities to find empowerment, especially for women, is so critical when Latin America is still feeling the heavy burdens of colonialism. The look on the women’s faces shows us the impact that the sport has on them, it helps them escape their realities for a brief moment. I found the story of the single-mother especially important because the burdens of being a single mother must be incredibly stress-inducing, and for her to have the opportunity to experience sport must make her a better mother and provider for the family. Also, the women’s connection with their indigeneity and the fighting was particularly interesting because even (I think) a tradition that comes from European roots, they have modified it to fit their indigenous identities in a post-colonial world, reclaiming as you will.

The first impression of the short-film is the power that comes from these women navigating their world through fighting in the ring. The second impression is that of the “good” and “bad” fighting cholitas (though I couldn’t really make it out at first) and the connotations of that. The “good” cholita seems to represent a more traditional and conservative cholita defending tradition, the one we see in the film is wearing white and the bad is wearing black, which coincides with the classic idea of white as good and black as bad. The cholita wearing black seemed to have a more modern approach to the traditional cholita outfit. She also presented herself with a more urban and rough demeanour with plays into their dichotomy. I think that the consequence of this dichotomy between the good and the bad also plays into the idea of urban and rural. The good being rural and the urban being bad, suggesting a disdain for the modernization of cholita and Bolivian culture.

Ultimately, I think that this opportunity for the cholitas to fight and express themselves is very important to the future of indigeneity, especially in a world where the boundaries amongst communities are getting more grey as globalization continues to sweep across the world. So, for indigenous communities to find ways to bring themselves together is more important than ever before.

Question: “What imagery and symbols do you notice in the documentary and what consequences (positive or negative) come with them?”

The mirror effect: seeing and being seen in the cult of María Lionza (Venezuela)

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Initially, I was very excited to be reading about a cult, but I actually left this reading with an entirely different interpretation of what a cult is and its significance within a culture. What shocked me was how the cult of Maria Lionza is far more organized as a religious unit than what my biased interpretation of what a cult is. The assumption going into this week was that for a cult to be organized that it needed to be small, therefore, easy to influence to its mass, but what happens in the cult of Maria Lionza is that there is a large following, with nuances in different pockets, and it seems to act like its own organized religion. This seems similar to all religions in the world, in the sense that Catholicism has its pockets and practices that vary in regions, nationalities, and ethnicities. Which is why my biased was slightly changed today, perhaps because a Western understanding of what a cult is has a lot darker of a history, however, I also don’t know how a cult may be perceived in Latin America and which connotations follow.

I thought that the emphasis on the eyes was very interesting, how it almost acts as a western soul, regarding its importance. I think that the emphasis on the eyes is also just another aspect of culture, that as I hypothesize may just be a regular part of Venezuelan culture, because vulture is funny like that sometimes. The respectable way to look at someone or the malicious way to look at someone is also very cultural, i.e. the eye roll.

Lastly, I think that one of the ways to rationalize the mirror effect as an outsider is that culturally there are ways that we prefer to be seen by others, and I think that the filming and the mirror effect play into that. I think that part of it is that they want to be perceived in a certain way and that is why they have specific rules in which they want to be filmed. However, I think that maybe is a stretch because I don’t have any way to back that up and that perhaps it really is just a belief that they have and the way that they experience their religion and life.

Question: What are some ways that the cult of Maria Lionza may affect the culture of Venezuela?

Mexican Drag and Queer Culture: Reception of Queer Content and Stereotypes Among Young People in Monterrey

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Since we are starting to look into what the topics of our final projects will be, my partner Maya and I wanted to add some needed representation into the course and address a few of my comments so far in the first half of the semester. First, I would like to acknowledge that I do understand the barriers of this survey-esque course and that there is not much time to dive into every sub-culture in Latin America, hence why we would like to add to the conversation in a meaningful, educational, and exciting way. The project will have the topic of Queer culture in Mexico, more specifically what is the drag culture of Mexico.

The first article we read, “Reception of Queer Content and Stereotypes Among Young People in Monterrey” has participants (five queer men, five straight men, and five straight women) watch two episodes of the popular reality-show “Rupaul’s Drag Race.” Important to note that all the participants were young university students, who had never seen the show. This article offers a lot of information regarding how drag is perceived in Mexico (Monterrey). We believe that the perception of popular culture is just as important as what it actually is, therefore the way that drag is viewed within the country is just as important as defining what it is.

One of the most interesting ideas that came out of this study is that the heterosexual groups were more emphatic to the show than the queer participants. The authors suggest that this is related to male chauvinism and how ingrained it is in Mexican culture, which may prevent the queer participants from enjoying the program. This exchange of the feminine and the masculine come out because I believe that the queer participants are socialized to reject femininity, or as stated in the article “the faggy” (the words used by the queer participants). However, the straight participants were a lot more receptive to the content, the straight men generally had their level of acceptance and understanding increase. This suggests the changing dynamics of how queer people are viewed in Mexico by the public, especially because all the participants are young university students. They did mention, however, that their parents and grandparents would not be as receptive to the show.

Our hopes for the project is that we will be able to make connections between the smaller drag culture in Mexico, the queer culture in Mexico, and the national Mexican culture, as well as create comparisons on the culture and its perception in Canada and the US.

Villarreal N.A…G., García C.V., Fernández G.K.R. (2017) Reception of Queer Content and Stereotypes Among Young People in Monterrey, Mexico: RuPaul’s Drag Race. In: Brennan N., Gudelunas D. (eds) RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Shifting Visibility of Drag Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1007/978-3-319-50618-0_13

Consequences of Narco Romanticism: The Buchona, Jenni Rivera, and the Everyday

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There is a blurred area in Mexico’s rural population: What is the line between banda and the Corrido? Firstly, I would like to say that I am naturally a giant Jenni Rivera fan, have been since I started learning Spanish almost four years ago, and even though I knew of her corridista persona, I had always been in bliss and never made the connections. Banda is such an integral part of northern rural Mexico (rather anything north of Mexico City, not including Mexico City) that I saw the influence of this culture first hand when I lived in a town named “Atlacomulco” in Mexico State. When I was there I got invited to the town’s ‘club’, as a large party goer in Vancouver I was expecting Reggaeton and club music, rather it was a large room with a live band exclusively playing banda and the most popular corridors, not because anybody made them perform those songs, but they enjoyed it and loved it. It was clear that there were drugs being passed around, but also a military presence in case anything were to happen (this was a University fundraising event). What also sparks a consequence of the Corrido culture is that it seems like as long as you’re discreet about it, that anybody is welcome, for instance, Jenni Rivera is viewed as a queer-idol and diva with many devoted fans, and even in the queer northern Mexican circles, they listen to banda and corridors, knowing the words by heart, feeling connected to the music.

Another thing I want to touch on is the la buchona, the created role of women (mostly in Sinaloa), as a short description of la buchona: A rich woman (self-made or otherwise) who look to be a lover, girlfriend, la onda, or the wife of a narcotraficante, she is generally glamorous, however, they are always powerful members of the narco culture and is well respected (often Jenni Rivera is considered to express the aesthetic of la buchona). There is a romanticization of the buchona aesthetic, I am personally guilty of this, even my instagram bio says: “La Buchona de Luis” (Luis is my partner). There is a fantasy that comes with the image of a buchona, I think this has to do with how wealth is viewed in Mexico, it can be a sign to some people of “I’ve made it”. I know in the lecture video fashion was touched on very briefly, but I would like to not as a final thought that the fashion that comes out of the narco culture does heavily influence fashion in Mexico. On Mexico’s “La Mas Draga” (A reality competition show about drag queens, think Rupaul’s Drag Race), there was an episode/challenge dedicated to imitating the buchona aesthetic, it has an impact, and I don’t ever think it is going to go away.

What are the potential consequences (positive or negative) of the narcos culture on Mexico? How does it impact the people on a more personal level? Where does narco go from here?

Cooking Lesson

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This week’s reading offers a very peculiar and almost interpersonal approach to the dynamic of culture as food. Castellanos writes about a woman who is trapped within her kitchen without the skills or resources to succeed in preparing her husband good, quality meals. The strangest thing in this short story is the notion that from this woman’s internal monologue, she appears incredibly intelligent. She produces references to pre-Hispanic civilization, post-colonial literature, and even Spanish Classics. A motive behind this could be to show the great mind that is lost to daily household work, Castellanos displays a very smart woman, but one who presents to her society as stunted simply because she cannot cook red-meat. Castellanos wants to show how unfortunate it is that her mind goes to waste. She uses this character as a microcosm of a much larger societal problem (that she sees). What is questioned is: What is a home? Who lives in a home? What are my culture’s views on marriage? What are the roles of men and women? And, How does this affect me? She is bringing her entire culture under a microscope to examine the notion of Mexican culture and the institutions within it, should they, and if so why.

This brings up a conversation that I really enjoy having about culture is if it works for all of us. As a queer person, I experience this entrapment that our heroine has, this general medium-heat fear that engulfs ours lives. This is a common barrier. When marginalized peoples don’t fit into the general culture there can be devastating consequences for the individual. Our main character doesn’t feel including within the general culture, nor the popular culture, and experiences this eerie dreadfulness. It is unfortunate that she never really finds peace or refuge within a culture or thing, but I think that the majority of the minorities generally cannot. I think this phenomenon is where sub-cultures form, think women’s movements, queer communities, ethnic or racial communities (think East-LA, DTES). The hypothetical end to our main character’s story would have ended kinder with an outlet for her to feel connected with something, a change of her dynamic where she can feel autonomous.

Question: What are Castellanos’ comments on culture, and how does she view a woman’s place in culture, be it general, sub, or popular? And, what are the barriers that one may have to experience popular culture, are there ways to redeem this?

THE PONGO’S DREAM AND RACE

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Other than the initial reaction of the beautiful message using ‘poop’ to talk about morality and kindness, Pongo’s Dream also offers a unique perspective into Peruvian race relations with aspects of power and of the mystical. It is hard to say what the exact motives of this story are, but the first thing I find peculiar is the use of the heavenly and of the mystical to tell a story, it is reminiscent in a way to Spanish Mysticism, as well as the Nican Mopohua (The Virgin of Guadalupe origin story) which places the Indigenous man into contact with heavenly-beings to persuade a (presumably) white man. This oracle like divinity blessed upon him acts as a potential means of religious propaganda (as per the similarities to Nican Mopohua) and one of indigenous self-governance (where an Indigenous man is given purpose and autonomy). What is also critical to mention is the relationship between master and serf, how this dynamic is the classic race=class=power. Pongo, an Indigenous man is under complete control and guidance of his white master, and regardless of the ‘moral of the story’, this speaks to the realities of many Indigenous peoples across the Americas on how there is a complete lack of self-governance, autonomy (mind and body), and the ability to exercise freedom.

There is also this idea of fear, where the other serfs are complacent to Pongo’s abuse and also live in a state of fear from the white master. I see this as an act of self-preservation by the other serfs, allowing Pongo’s abuse to avoid the same thing happening themselves. This can also be seen as a way to protect themselves as well as their families, protecting them from shame and/or otherwise. To be able to laugh at Pongo was to appease the master is an example of this self-preservation. This speaks to the power that race relations has and how it impacts the serfs and their everyday life. The master uses his power and race to control the serfs and more specifically Pongo.