UPDATE: See the final exam to see which questions were chosen.
In the final exam, you will be given three of the questions below, from which you will choose one as the topic of a written essay.
- What is popular culture in Latin America? How might it differ from or overlap with (say) high culture, elite culture, or official culture? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples that we have discussed in this course.
- How has Latin American popular culture changed over time? What, for instance, has been the impact or legacy of colonialism, nationalism, neoliberalism, or technological developments? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples that we have discussed in this course.
- Take one of the following categories and show its significance for our understanding of Latin American popular culture: class, gender, race. In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples that we have discussed in this course.
- Can we still talk of “Latin American popular culture” even in a globalized world in which the borders between popular and elite, or culture and the market, are increasingly blurred? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples that we have discussed in this course.
- What are the politics of Latin American popular culture? When (and why or how) is it “resistant” or “subversive,” if it ever is? And when (and why or how) does it reinforce conventional hierarchies and relations of power, if it ever does? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples that we have discussed in this course.
