Jan
26
Faces of Popular Culture
Posted by: Brian | January 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Faces of Popular Culture
This week’s assigned reading concerns the origins of modern popular culture in Latin America and the forces that shaped it. The authors take into account the effects of exposure to Spanish and African cultures, and thoroughly examine the nuances of Latin American culture, which differ from region to region. For example, they discuss both Perú and México in detail; these are two countries which are both inarguably part of Latin America, and are thus similar in many ways. However, they have extremely different histories, and were inhabited by very different people. In Perú, the Incan empire flourished long before the Spanish showed up; and in México, the native population consisted in large part of Aztecs and Mayans, depending on the region.
However, racial origins aside, it is inarguable that the culture of Latin America as a whole shifted drastically with the arrival of the Spanish. A major impact of their presence was that they introduced Catholicism, and forced the native population to renounce their own gods.
African culture also played a significant role in the development of modern popular culture in Latin America. They influenced music rhythms as well as dance styles. Another example of the impact of African culture occurred because of the qualms of the slave owners; as they didn’t understand the religious practices of their slaves, and were thus afraid of them, they forbid non Christian worship. In response to this, the slaves married their African deities with the Catholic saints, and formed Santería, which is fairly widely practiced in Caribbean nations.
All in all, it is very difficult to define precisely what Latin American popular culture is; over the years it has been touched by a wide variety of influences, which have entwined to form a modern culture that is vibrant and alive.
