Popular Culture and the Representation of Youth in Latin America

3 units

The objective of this course is to introduce students to different aspects related to the representation of youth in Latin America, particularly through the depiction this sector receives in the realm of popular culture. The course will focus on the relationship between youth and social/political conflict and on the literary and cinematic representation of juvenile sectors in cultural production in different Latin American countries. The roles of music, melodrama and the media will be studied in connection to the construction of subjectivity and collective identity. The course will also analyze the involvement of juvenile sectors in narco-culture, gangs, maras, and the like, as well as the impact of violence, fear, and social inequality in early life. The analysis of films, literary texts, critical studies and cultural practices will be approached through a combination of biopolitical analysis and the analysis of representational strategies utilized in the elaboration of symbolic materials. This course fulfills the seminar requirement for Latin American Studies majors and minors. Prerequisite: LatAm 165D or another Latin American Studies course.