Category: Rowe and Schelling

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.

Latin American culture is very heterogeneous and varies a lot depending on the region, still there are some similarities, that’s why the text uses three big areas on its attempt to describe it, the Andean region, Brazil and Mexico. Ever since the Conquest, Latin America has been changing, but even with all the changes it has had, there are still some rituals and traditions, from our native American ancestors, that are kept, but there are also some bad things, like due to globalization some of the same ancestors are taken aside and exploited or capitalists have taken away their lands. Also the development and social trends of the different areas may vary due to the country that conquer them and to urbanization and industrialization. Another area of Latin American culture that was very affected by the conquest was religion, after they invade America they imposed their religion and tried to change the rituals that were already used, but Europeans had an advantage, that they used written documents, as Indians usually had more a vocal heritage (narrative). Part of the traditions that are kept by some of the Indians are music and poetry, and there still are people that write in their native language, and also they keep native instruments. Another tradition that is trying to be kept is all the artesanias, which have a lot of different meanings, and they were related to religion sometimes, in a bad or a good way, but also, beside their meaning they have become in some cases an income for families. It is really hard to describe a region so vast like Latin America, but I think the authors here gave us very good idea of what in general concepts is Latin America.

Despite being very long, this journal article was by far the best (out of the ones we have read so far). It captivated me for all 101 pages of it. Some of the pages did drag a tad bit but overall I was very pleased with the read.

The parts I enjoy were the ones in which the author talked about traditional cultures not becoming extinct in Latin America but instead becoming the focus of what is different in Latin America as opposed to North America. Most of information about the Amerindians i knew before, as I have been to Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, which all have the issues with their native populations being extremely poor (as Schelling and William have stated). For someone who has never been to Latin America or studied Latin American culture this section could have proved very useful.

This essay really takes you to those remote locations of South and Latin America such as Mexico and Bolivia among others. I also enjoyed the parts that explained the Cultural traditions and the ways in which they were created. The parts about the colonial powers and religious institutions playing large roles in both the formation and creation of certain cultural aspects of Latin America.

It’s funny when comparing these cultural rituals and histories to my own North American cultural I find some similarities and many differences. This is because the Amerindians here were not so heavily influential into our infrastructure when we were a young nation, and they did not mix as much with the immigrating population. They still too suffered many of the same unfortunate diseases, weapons and slaver as they’re Latin American counter parts. Its funny because when one thinks about specifically North American culture, people think of fast food and consumerism, but when one thinks about Latin America they picture the natives and the rich ancient history that lies within its holdings.

This reading was lengthy and detailed giving a good explanation of the variations in popular culture throughout Latin America. I personally have a limited pot of knowledge concerning Latin American history, and have found myself thus far trying to grasp the concept of ‘Latin American pop culture’ as a lump concept. Indeed there are many shared experiences throughout Latin American development which are dissimilar to the Canadian and American history that I am used to, however each country has a unique past that must be acknowledged. Therefore, I found this article to be an excellent overview of some of the characteristics of different areas that contributed to their specific artistic impressions.

I did enjoy the entire article, however, for the sake of the reader I will discuss only the points that really stood out me.

On page 65, speaking of Mexico in particular, “The promotion of handicraft production benefits both peasants and the state: the former are enabled to ‘feed and keep their family in the village they always felt part of’ and, for the state, ‘handicrafts are an economic and ideological resource for limiting peasant immigration, the constant invasi on of the cities by a labor force which industry cannot absorb and which aggravates already serious deficiencies in housing, health, and education’” I volunteered this year at the fair trade store Ten Thousand Villages, and I feel that handicrafts can be undermined in the field of development. Not only are they of cultural and economic significance, this article also brings up the excellent point that they also have the power to act as a buffer against urbanization while preserving tradition.

On Page 97, the author notes the melding or rural/urban culture infused with transnational culture which is a product of enhanced communications. Whereas the ‘rural areas’ are categorized as a place of ‘pure and authentic culture,’ the cities are considered to be ‘a corrupting and contaminating force.’ However, due to urbanization, the cities now are now injected with rural traditions and act as the hub of international capitalist ideals. Both of these mix together to form a new culture, that is the new emerging Latin American pop culture.

On a more general note, It was really eye opening to see how some of the minor elements in a performance or other art form can have such a profound meaning, that I would not have picked up on if I did not understand the cultural representation it held. For instance the role reversal of the natives versus the Spaniards (– a compensatory effect, Page 62), or the Spaniards festivals in Peru which end in a bullfight to affirm that the ‘fundamental culture is Spanish’ (Page 57). Another, not as subtle, interesting expression is the Brazilian ‘folhetos,’ which value stereotypical roles for women, display those women who defy traditional morality as ‘suffering at the hands of supernatural forces’ (Page 91).

The rest of the article provides great new perspectives and explanations. I am not going to discuss further, because due to my limited experience in this area I am in no place to critique, add, or subtract anything said in the paper. I just thought I would share some of what I took away.

Ok so out of all our readings thus far, this is by far my favorite.  Although somewhat lengthy, I enjoyed every bit of this reading.  Some of it was a little tedious to read but I’d say one out of all the pages  one was tedious, in my opinion.
The thing I enjoyed the most was the fact that the author went into great detail about specific Latin American pop culture.  For someone who has never taken a course on Latin America and who knows relatively nothing about it, this article made it easier to put a picture to a name.
I am so interested in other cultures and have traveled to many diferent places outside of Canada and the US, and Latin America is one of the places I am most interested in visiting and learning about.  I love to learn about the different cultural practices of people far away and relate them to my culture or those I know of.
This essay really brought me to all the little corners of Peru, Argentina and others, places I can only dream about and have.  I really enjoyed the background and the history which really put their different cultural practices in a new light.  I had so many questions about this population of people that just simply learning about their various ideas of pop culture, wouldn’t give me such an in depth view of them but this essay really helped.
After reading this essay, I now have a better idea of what popular culture really is.  The thing that really drove it home for me was how the author explisitly tells us that the ideas of these cultures are imbedded into every day life.  That the meaning of every day life is what is popular culture.  The seemingly mundane aspects of life have incredible meaning in places where such things aren’t so readily taken for granted.  The idea that their history is played out in every day life is a powerful idea.  They use oral and written tradition to pass down onto future generations what they  think are the most important things in life.  The idea that these spoken and written traditions are heavely embedded into their every day lives is important in understanding their way of life.
This essay brought me into their theatre, where history is played out and their songs and music are ways in which they connect with the world around them.  The mere thought of having a dance to celebrate the changing of the year and seasons is an amazing thought that brings the world and human nature closer together.  In a world where we rarely focus on the earth in our daily lives, this culture/s is deeply intwined with the earth and nature.
Their practices do not just bring them closer with the world around them but connect them with the past and future.  Their stories and plays tell the truths of how their political system has come to be, how they have maintained faith and how they associate themselves with the outer world and community.  I love that each word they say, eachsond or dance they perform is full of meaning, spilling over into a culture of people who take this meaning seriously.
I compare it to Western culture due to the fact that it seems we are so much the opposite.  Not ever in my daily life do I truly encounter anything that makes me think, or question (other than school) our current situation.  I am never met by singing people where their words become my own but then if it were my popular culture, I would also be involved.  I don’t have any groups of people I sit with and talk about our world and the way it’s come to be and nowhere are there instruments that are connected to the seasons, that I know of in my popular culture.  I would love it if my reality was presented in a way such as dance, song and profound lyrical stories, then perhaps I would be more inclined to listen.
Instead I live in a world where danc e and music have become so sexualized that it’s often difficult to find a real story in lyrics and I do listen for them. The reason I dream of their ppopular culture practices is that it seems real.  Everything in my reality seems fake, or not tangible.  You can’t go to a hockey game and say that that is our reality and our world passed down from generation to generation, is there nothing else? And if there was something else, would anyone listen? Does anyone even care?
I would love to sit on a mountain somewhere and just take it all in, the nature, the realness of it all.  In a world where it seems most things are based on superficiality, can we actually see the real from the fake?  Now that I’ve finished the reading, I long for other people’s popular culture instead of my own.

This weeks reading of “The Faces of Popular Culture” by Rowe William and Vivian Schelling opened my eyes to new prespectives and ideas of culture in Latin America and what that actually entails. From the beggining of the essay it was evidence the importance that spanish conquest has had on Latin America. The realationship between the mix of indigenous and Spanish culture is interesting to analys. Later, the discussion of current urbanization and ‘economic development’ in Latin America is brought forth. In the essay they referee to a qoute by Taussig’s. “A community can in many ways be affected and controlled y the wider capatilist world, but this in itself does not necessarily make such a community a replica of the larger society and the global economy.” This shows that even with an evolving urbanazation and economic global ‘blending’ and interdependence that individuality does and can exist.  The then go on to talk about Folhetos of which I personally find very intruiging. Its almost as if these poems assist in the binding of culture. Along with folhetos i found the discusion of footbal to be very similair. It seems a though simple things such as sports and poems represent larger cultural situations. That it’s not just footbal but rather a metaphor of which is representative of culture in Latin America. Envolved in this is the extensive popularity of telenovelas in Latin America. It’s as if though again these telenovelas are representative of something much larger. After finishing the reading i came back to the question of what is popular culture in Latin America. I came to the conclusion that there is no conclusion and that there is no definitive answer or definition. Popular culture is based off a continually growing and changing world of which makes it nearly impossible to classify the world culture. The one constant that is attachable to the word culture however is that culture is an individual experience of which is different for everybody and the conotations they attach to the word. Things such as telenovelas and footbal are all stimulators for culture but in the end its how the individual precieves and feels about popular culture that makes it what it is.

What is popular Culture in Latin America?
Creo que definir la cultura popular de Latin America es muy complicado, así como cuando tratamos de definir la cultura y el significado de las personas. El articulo de esta semana tenía muchos ejemplos de lo llamado cultura popular. En lo personal me llamo mucho la atención cuando el autor escribe sobre la aculturación que se da en los bailes, en específico el baile de la Conquista. El darle el poder de asimilación a un baile me parece una muy interesante forma de resistencia. Tener aspectos del “pasado” y “presente” juntos me demuestra la capacidad de los humanos para entender procesos y cambios en la vida diaria. Me pareció bien interesante cuando el autor dice en la pagina 56 que las princesas de ponen lentes de sol como signo de “modernidad.” Este signo de modernidad va más allá de lo Español y de lo Indígena. Los lentes son un elemento de la actualidad y la verdad así como lo dije me parece impresionante como la cultura popular se va transformando y como mantiene la continuidad entre el pasado y el día de hoy.
Otro punto que me llamo mucho la atención es cuando el autor en la pagina 73 escribe que aunque el capitalismo hace que todo sea estándar y haya en todos lados las mismas cosas aun así la gente de cada país y pueblo y cultura le da su propio toque. Cuando leí esta parte se me vino a la mente McDonald’s que aunque hay en todo el mundo cada McDonald’s tiene como su toque por que por ejemplo en México está la Mcnorteña que en mi opinión fue creada por la necesidad de hacer el McDonald’s un poco parte del país y de los gustos de las personas, que igual tiene parte de negocio por que es lo que se vende pero pues después de leer esa parte en el artículo fue lo que se me vino a la mente.
Otra parte que me gusto mucho es cuando el autor escribe de las Telenovelas. El dice que las telenovelas “offer a simplistic analysis of the problem which is posited on the character of certain individuals and not the socio-economic reality of the country which is the real issue.” En realidad lo que aprendí estando fuera de México es que al gobierno le conviene mantener a la gente entretenida viendo las novelas en lugar de pensar en los problemas socio-económicos del país, claro muchas personas se preocupan más por la vida de los de las novelas y así en cierta manera no piensan en sus propios problemas.

I found Evita Peron’s reading to be much easier to follow than the previous two readings and enjoyed it more, however I did not get who are the people. This reading seems to be very personal, political and emotional. We can take a look at what she thinks about the people, the military, the church, the upper class and other things. From what she is saying, it seems that the people are a just a bunch of lower/working class men and women, “descamisados”, who are ignorant about whats around them and she is the one who will take care of them and she knows whats best for them. She identifies with them and rejects the oligarchy or the upper class and military whom she regards as oppressors of the people. She is a fanatic of the people and of her husband of whom she has nothing but good things to say. However, I think that she goes too far in praising him. Some actually think that My Message was not written by her and by someone else. I like the point she made about religion when she said that religion shoud be “the liberation of the people” however it seems that this is not the case since it has been religion the cause of many wars and people suffering around the world and especially the middle east.