So this is it, my final blog post! I guess this marks the end of not only this course, but also what has been quite an unusual year of learning. Despite only seeing and interacting with everyone over zoom, I actually found the opportunities we did have (break out rooms, in class discussions..) to be really engaging. I’ve also really liked reading everyone’s blog posts over the course of this term- I found it really interesting to see everyone’s unique interpretations of our readings, and to read a bit about everyone’s personal connections and relationships with different forms of popular culture. I have learned a lot, not only about the forms popular culture can and does take in Latin America, but about the variety and diversity of our unique lived experiences, interests, passions and stories.

Although I appreciate the wide variety of topics we have covered, If I had to choose a favourite instance of popular culture, I think it would be our unit on Lucha Libre and The Fighting Cholitas. I appreciate how this course has opened up any pre-existing definitions of popular culture I had previously been holding, and exposed me to the most insightful, fascinating, and compelling forms human expression and activity can take. The Fighting Cholitas embodied all of these qualities and more, as they challenged a male-dominated world and simultaneously blended their own cultural traditions with those of fighting for sport. Ultimately, this is what I consider to be my the most important takeaway from this course; the fluidity of the world of popular culture. It is world that is ever changing, ever evolving, challenging, eroding and constructing.  Where we are from has such a hold on our identity, and our perceptions of the world, and I think that’s one of the most important considerations to make when dissecting why something can become popularized, and by whom.

All-in-all, thank you to everyone for making this class a really great experience. I think we have all learned a lot, about popular culture and about ourselves, and I wish everyone who reads this the best of luck with any final projects and exams- you’ve got this! We made it through quite the rollercoaster of a year, and it can only be up from here on 🙂