Response To: The End of Popular Culture?

I grew up listening to three different types of music: rock (i.e. Journey), salsa (i.e. El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico), and classical. Listening to salsa music was a way of connecting to Puerto Rico while living in Seattle, WA—for both my parents and for their children. It is interesting then that a part of Puerto Rican, and Latin American, identity is a genre of music that has both European and African influences. It goes back to what Latin American identity actually is, and who owns it. Music—something that is considered an important part of any culture—has become widely distributed and consumed. It is identified with Latin America, but is listened to and danced to in Europe and North America by people who are not from Latin America. What is culture then if it can become so easily sold off? It must have been an important part of Latin American identity, especially for the Puerto Ricans and Cubans living in New York City, but now it is no longer just for these groups of people. Does it lose power as a result? Or can it still be an important part of Latin American culture if it is not unique to Latin America?


To jump to another topic, there is the article on Jennifer Lopez and how she is portrayed in the media. This was interesting considering the recently publicized views of Hollywood’s primarily using white actors. Jennifer Lopez and her influences on the views of Latina women by North Americans, whether positive or negative, are interesting to dissect. There’s the fact that her body challenges beauty standards, but at the same time it furthers this idea that Latina women have curvy bodies—that to be Latina is to be curvy. This can be dangerous in its own right because there are a wide variety of bodies represented by Latin Americans, especially because of the genetic diversity in this region, and it can allow certain assumptions to continue to exist—that all Latinos are darker, have dark hair, have curly hair, etc. It is difficult to say whether Jennifer Lopez really challenges these stereotypes about what Latinas look like. For example, there have been women that have been turned for movies because they do not look “Latina enough”. What does this say about our times and how we view Latinas? I do not know how to answer that, but I do think that there is still progress to be made regarding the way that Latin Americans are portrayed and represented in the media—maybe Jennifer Lopez is or will be a part of this development.

In search of a new topography

I found this reading to be very interesting and as well as being an easier read than the previous readings. Before taking this class I was also in a Latin american revolution class that discussed Subcommandante Marcos in a more detailed way. Knowing what I know about Marcos I think the article does a very good job at outlining his revolutionary campaign and relating it to popular culture. Specifically, the article emphasized the anonymity and the mystery surrounding marcos and how that created a stronger message. One part of this article I did disagree was the classification of marcos as the first post-modern revolutionary and specifically his use of media and the radio. Looking towards the cuban revolution, Che Guevara was a master of radio communications and his radio skills were extremely instrumental in the success of the revolution. Subcommandante Marcos did indeed use modern media outlets such as the new york times in an effective way, but his incorporation of the radio was by no means original or post-modern. In addition to this I believe the anonymity of Marcos’ revolution served solely as a means to include the entirety of mexico’s population in a unified struggle whilst also removing the power dynamic that comes into play with revolutionary leaders. This tactic itself isn’t necessarily post-modern and in my opinion this classification is just part of his romanticization which is also important to talk about.

 

Beltran on Lopez was similarly an interesting read that lead me to question the representation of latin celebrities in a capitalist and post-colonialist era. The sentiments and connotations carried within the body of a latin person, specifically of a latina have always been largely constructed by the media and Lopez is a perfect example of how the sexualization of latinas has contributed to an archetype of all latin american people. Additionally, it is interesting to me the line that is drawn between proper representation of latin american identity and commodification of latin america beeple and culture. I personally think it is vital for latin americans to have some form of representation in western culture and Jennifer Lopez does a good job at representing that, but it is important to make a distinction between representation and commodification in order for culture to be preserved.

Zapatistas, Body Image & Salsa

About the first reading (Gómez-Peña, ‘In search of a new topography’): I find it interesting how at some point the author states something about the relation of Marcos to ‘the myth’ – the fact that he could hold on to his performance of an image and ideology only as long as his real identity was unknown. It makes me think of other public figures I know that are known for not revealing their true identity, and it’s interesting to see how people feed on the created image of a person through speculating about his or her real identity. It has nothing to do with this but it made me think of a current famous Italian writer who goes with an acronym, Elena Ferrante, and basically everyone I know back in Italy (and probably also outside of it) has had her in a topic of conversation; people speculating about ‘her’ being a man and so on and so forth. ‘The mystery nourishes the ideaology’ – kind of thing, like Marcos did.

Second reading (Beltrán, ‘The Hollywood Latina Body as Site of Social Struggle): “African American characters in films often evoke and deny race simultaneously, serving as projections of white anxieties about race” – “…commodification and appropriation of Latin culture without a broadening of notions of American culture in general” –  I LOVE IT!!! Hollywood movies with main figures from non-white races: usually, I have noticed they are all, to a certain extent, ‘white looking’ or conform to western standards of beauty. Like, they make the film look like ethnically diverse and real, but in fact it’s not. Also, It’s very interesting to read about a ‘modern star’ of Hollywood through such an analysis. Women’s body image problem is still very real – especially girls with darker skin tones than the ones mainly portrayed in mass media –  and I’m glad Beltran brought this topic up. This made me think a lot about today’s ‘stars’ like Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azaela who are known for Jennifer Lopez’s same reason and the negative and positive effect this has on women watching them.

Hybridity: Hybrid Cultures in Globalized Times

The author, Néstor García Canclini begins the text regarding “Rethinking Identities through Hybridization” by stating that, “one must begin by accepting the dispute over whether ‘hybrid’ is a good or bad word. That the word is widely used is not sufficient for us to consider it respectable. On the contrary, its profuse employment favors the assignment to it of divergent meanings.”
The author highlights the common theme of ambivalence in delimiting theories of mixture, noting that the employment of such terms in different contexts makes uniform definitions  difficult.  It is also important to  note  his insistence of the removal of the good/bad dichotomy, as this allows for the understanding of hybridization as a process and not necessarily a uniform negative or positive result.  Canclini provides readers a foundational definition by delimiting his own understanding of hybridization.  “I will start with a first definition: I understand for hybridization sociocultural processes in which discrete structures or practices, previously existing in separate form, are combined to generate new structures, objects, and practices.”
The author takes the example of the common framing of Spanglish, or the “hybrid” language that takes from both English and Spanish. This notion undermines or ignores the potential for both English and Spanish to be the result of hybridization of other languages (Arabic, Latin, etc.) The author makes two points here, that hybridization is a generative process, which combines previously separate structures, to create new structures, as well as putting forth the notion that culture (and its extensions) are also inherently a processes of hybridization. The author goes on to say, “by reducing the conceptual hierarchy of identity and heterogeneity in favor of hybridization, we remove support from policies of fundamentalist homogenization or the limited (segregated) recognition of “the plurality of cultures,”  making the case for a theory of mixture that avoids hierarchy or privileging one culture over another.
The author further examines the process of hybridization as facilitated by globalization. Canclini states that, “globalizing processes accentuate modern cross-cultural contact by creating world markets for money and material goods, messages, and migrants. The flows and interactions that occur in these processes have diminished the power of border and customs agents, as well as the autonomy of local traditions, and have fostered a greater variety of hybridizations in production, communication, and styles of consumption than in the past. ” In this way we can see how physical trade and exchange by way of globalization allow for the movement of  products and cultural practices that cannot be contained by borders or territory lines.

The End of Popular Culture?

Guillermo Gomez-Pena’s excerpt was super interesting to me as Marcos ingeniously inspired the people and constructed his whole persona with the ways, desires and tendencies of the people/media. El Sup observed the structures in which people interact with and create their own knowledge (which in turn create themselves and their own perceptions) and infiltrated  peoples perceptions with relatability and dominating sources of information (with powerful images etc). With an almost dialectical technique, Marcos was both powerful and humble, of the people and of the world, a revolutionary leader and a sex icon, everything people wanted him to be without anyone knowing who he was. As humans, we are extremely dialectical and it was interesting to me how Marcos utilised this human tendency to help construct his identity and his relations/grip on the people and the media. That being said, the love affair with el Sup had to end, just like telenovelas, and the people moved on to the next big thing, as we tend to do with our diminishing attention spans.  In relation to our last reading on hybridity, it was interesting to see how Marcos’ ” sophisticated internationalism” and ability to relate  and be a part of pop-culture (as an exotic sex icon) allowed him to be connected and liked by the people.

“At one point it became hard to draw a line between radical politics and pop-culture, between solidarity and revolutionary consumerism”

Mary C. Beltran explores “the politics of representation” specifically in the case of Jennifer Lopez’ ‘star image’ at the end of 1998. Beltran investigates the sexualization of Lopez  as a ‘cross over figure’ moving into the hollywood mainstream. The question is raised whether the sexualization of Lopez perpetuates the stereotypes of Latinas or is an image of empowerment supporting those with non-model-thin bodies to celebrate their curves. Reading this made me a little itchy as it is a sensitive topic that can deals just as much with the politics representation as a woman as well as a person of a minority. Additionally the comparison between Spanish-language-media vs english-language-media was intriguing. The depiction of Jennifer Lopez could be an indication to what is seen as favourable traits to either culture. In spanish-media there could possibly an emphasis on family and relation to the people and western media– the body and sex. Jennifer Lopez claimed power to her own body by loving and showing off her butt, an asset (pun intended) that is glorified in our current day.

— I wasn’t able to do the full Patria Roman Velazquez reading as essays are piling up but will return to this.

Theories of Mixture III: Hybridity

This reading had a similar theme of reinvestigating a commonly used term (hybrid/hybridisation) and deconstructing and critiquing the current and potential application of the term. Canclini’s writing was intriguing as his thoughts and findings are applicable to many aspects of how the world functions in these globalised times.

One thing I found interesting was, the concept of a ‘pure point of origin’ never really existing in this globalised state. This reminded me of an advertisement I saw recently by the travel company Momondo (even though it might be a bit of a tangent in regard to Latin American studies). The ad had 67 participants  take a DNA test that shows their ancestry (click here for video). Prior to showing the participants the results, the people were asked where they thought they were from and a few participants expressed dislike for particular ethnicities and/or superiority of their ancestry through prejudices or their ‘purity’. Upon receiving the tests back most of the participants were shocked humbled to find how mixed their ancestry actually was. Although the ethnicity testing was critiqued amongst people in the field of DNA testing, the point was to depict how we are not as far away or unrelated to one another as we like to think! As Canclini stated “We can chose to live in a state of war or in a state of hybridisation” (xxxi). So, we must chose to embrace the overlaps between cultures, people, societies or we must be in constant collision, fighting for what belongs to whom and not progressing together. But what can be lost and how do we respect the tragedies of the past?

In the context of humans as a whole, the rise of technology (from biological DNA testing to social media)  allows every one in the world to share and be connected on some level.  Globalisation has created a form of mass hybridity to a certain extent, yet we are all still grounded in our own differences –cultures and beliefs. This is particularly interesting to me as  it  is relevant in our ever-globalising world but at the same time, fundamental traditions/beliefs must still be treated with respect and not appropriated as a pseudo hybridisation or just lost.

Body Positivity and Culture

This blog post is going to be super quick and casual due to a pile of homework and essay deadlines that are very quickly creeping up!

I found Beltran’s article really interesting because of the modern social struggles that are still at play to this day (although some of these issues are easy to miss). Body positivity is a huge area of discussion, and it’s still a topic of heavy controversy. According to the article, the superstar was very proud of the body she owned, and she showed it off as a kind of tribute to her heritage. However, Beltran notes that there are hardly any sources that really discuss her background/culture. In fact, within the English-language media, she is looked at as more of a symbol for sex and femininity and desire as opposed to a star of Puerto Rican descent. Through the manipulation of media, most Latin performers are limited to certain roles; these include highly sexual roles, comedic roles, or subservient roles. Though J-Lo received a huge amount of fame and admiration, for the most part it was not attributed to her role as an actress; rather it was attributed to the size of her butt. This underlines the strength of the racial hierarchy within America. Being confined to one specific trait results in a view in which Americans seem more “whole” than Latin Americans. In not emphasizing J-Lo’s heritage, the media successfully downplays her culture while simultaneously positioning the English-language community above hers; both “celebrating and objectifying difference”.

However, that is not to say that J-Lo’s butt is merely something to ogle at. Her obvious difference in body shape creates underlying tension between the bodily ideals of two different intermingling cultures. There seems to be a lack of a clear distinction between the Latin peoples and the American/Europeans. It can be argued that some values of Latin Americans do, in fact, dominate certain aspects of the broader culture of America. Beltran touches on the topic of sexual domination and its hidden role. Even looking at this specific topic is confusing – it can be seen positively (the more obvious route) or negatively in terms of it being “all-consuming” and almost “blame-worthy”. A woman’s body can be deemed as distracting and looked down upon for being so. Again, this is where we can see power plays at work, with one party position itself above another.

Obviously there are a multitude of debates that happen regarding body positivity and how it shapes our social systems. Many embrace the “natural” sexuality attributed to bodies, while others choose to engage in acts that attempt to desexualize the natural body. There may never be a correct answer to such a topic but learning about how it intertwines with a cultural aspect definitely made this an interesting read.

Group Dynamics

During this semester, we took organizational behavior and put it to the test. With our small group setting as our organization, we worked together for three months. With Professor Wayne Rawcliffe’s guidance, we had a meeting solely for the purpose of getting to know each other better. We didn’t talk about homework, school, or work. It was purely about understanding them and listening to their life story. With the conclusion of our first team meeting, I believe that our group took a step in the right direction.

As time went on and we constructed a contract to solidify the do’s and the don’ts of the group, we started on our first assignment and began our journey through the five-stage model of group development. By constructing the contract and having our introductory meeting, we had completed the forming stage and moved onto the storming stage. A stage in which we clarified individual roles, responsibilities and got a general feel of how each person worked. Although there were some bumps along the way, I think our group performed well together and we were able to finish the assignment promptly and efficiently. Nevertheless, we went over the issues that appeared during the duration of the project in class and resolved any lasting doubt. By committing time to resolve any potential conflicts, we moved on from the storming stage and to the norming stage.

With the first assignment under our belts, we were introduced to another assignment, one that would account for 30% of our grade. Having everyone understand the importance of this assignment was integral to our group’s performance, so to see that everyone saw this as important made tackling the assignment so much easier. With everyone understanding each other’s strengths, weaknesses, responsibilities, and roles, we were able seamlessly move from the norming stage to the performing stage. Throughout the assignment, because of the free flow of information, I sensed a gradual shift of attitude which made me really appreciate my group. I could feel the lowering of walls as everyone acknowledged each other not as team mates but as friends. It was at this moment that I knew that once we completed this assignment, we would have reached the fifth and final stage, adjourning.

Response to “The End of Popular Culture?”

 

Well, well, well. After three months, we have finally approached the end of this course. During this time, I can honestly say that I learned a lot. It got to the point where I telling my girlfriend about Peronism in Argentina. I’m not a big culture guy so for me to enjoy this course speaks a lot about this course. Looking at the title I can see that we have come full circle in regards to the topic. From “what is culture” to the “theories of mixture” and now to “the end of popular culture?”.

When reading Guillermo Gomez-Pena’s “In Search of a New Topography”, the first thing that came to mind was Big Foot. Big Foot came up first because of all the mystery surrounding it. Like Marco, Big Foot is something that became engrained in popular culture even though no one really knew what it looked like. Furthermore, if Big Foot was actually revealed, the mysticism surrounding Big Foot would disappear and the intrigue would disappear, just like what happened to Marco after he revealed himself to be just an ordinary citizen from Northern Mexico. For me, it just goes to show that once the mystery gets answered, interest surrounding this elusive object subsides.

When reading Mary C. Beltran’s “The Hollywood Latina Body as Site of Social Struggle: Media Constructions of Stardom and Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Cross-Over Butt’”, I found this article particularly interesting because it talks about how Hollywood is a white-dominated industry. “It also is notable that direct mention of Lopez’s ethnicity appears to have been downplayed in the English-language press during this period, while it unsurprisingly was emphasized in the Spanish-language press” This sentence perfectly resembles what it is like to be a minority in Hollywood. Hollywood would normalize Lopez by emphasizing her upbringing in the Bronx, as opposed to her Puerto Rican heritage. Although Hollywood has incorporated more minorities in recent years, it has largely stayed a white industry.

And with this, I conclude my last blog. LAST 201 has been a pleasant surprise not only in terms of the class but also the material. It’s been real guys and I wish everyone the best of luck on the finals!

Reaction to readings on the End of Popular Culture

I explain in this blog my reaction to the readings of the week: “In Search of a New Topography” by Guillermo Gómez-Peña; “The Hollywood Latina Body as Site of Social Struggle: Media Cinstructions of Stardom and Jennifer Lopez’s Cross-Over Butt’” by Mary C. Beltrán; and “The Embodiment of Salsa: Musicians, instruments and the Performance of a Latin Style and Identity” by Patria Román-Velázquez.

Gómez-Peña’s text deals with the Mexican revolutionary group of the 90s called the Zapatistas, and more precisely with its leader, the so-called Subcomandante Marcos. The extract explains that Marcos initially won popularity by trying to be a popular culture phenomenon: he used slang, references to urban culture and pop culture, theatrical performance… But he eventually lost this popularity: people simply got tired of his character with time, as if he was a pop star instead of a guerillero.

Beltrán’s text focuses on the fact that in the late 1990s, most of the popular attention devoted to Latina star Jennifer Lopez was centered around the shape of her butt. From this rather unconventional starting point, the author tries to develop an argumentation about how this could illustrate a media system that is still uncomfortable with promoting the body shape of non-white women or, to the contrary, an industry that continues to use and to extrapolate stereotypes from other ethnicities.

The last text, by Patria Román-Velázquez, is centered around the theme of salsa, a Latin dance/music that the author of the essay uses to reflect on ethnicity and culture. By taking the example of Salsa musicians who are not Latin and who play in London, the essay states that, though we consider salsa to be a pure element of Latin America popular culture, musicians from other backgrounds can learn it but, due to the differences in places, they will play it slightly differently: one does not need to be Latin to play Salsa but according to the place of learning the result will differ (not that there is a more authentic way, warns the writer). Additionally, salsa bands in English-speaking countries note the constrains imposed by the industry: to remain profitable, they have to cope with the expectations and the limited familiarity of their audience with this music. They must keep the Spanish lyrics fairly simple and restrain themselves to create a music to make people dance.