This insightful book introduces the most important trends, people, events, and products of popular culture in Latin America and the Caribbean. In recent times, Latin American influences have permeated American culture through music, movies, television, and literature. This sweeping volume serves as a ready-reference guide to pop culture in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, focusing on Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Costa Rica, among other areas. The work encourages hands-on engagement with the popular culture in these places, making such suggestions as Brazilian films to rent or where to find Venezuelan music on the Internet. To start, the book covers various perspectives and issues of these regions, including the influence of the United States, how the idea of machismo reflects on the portrayal of women in these societies, and the representation of Latino-Caribo cultures in film and other mediums. Entries cover key trends, people, events, and products from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. Each section gives detailed information and profound insights into some of the more academic—and often controversial—debates on the subject, while the inclusion of the Internet, social media, and video games make the book timely and relevant.

A survey of contemporary Latin American popular culture, covering topics that range from music and film to popular festivals and fashion. Like no other volume of its kind, Pop Culture Latin America! captures the breadth and vitality of pop culture in Central and South America and the Caribbean, exploring both familiar and lesser-known aspects of its unique melange of art, entertainment, spirituality, and celebrations. Written by contributors who are scholars and specialists in the cultures and languages of Latin America, the book focuses on the historical, social, and political forces that have shaped Latino culture since 1945, particularly in the last two decades. Separate chapters cover music, popular cinema, mass media, theater and performance, literature, cultural heroes, religions and festivals, social movements and politics, the visual arts and architecture, sports and leisure, travel and tourism, and language.

This book details many aspects of Latin American culture as experienced by millions of people living in Central and South America. The author argues that despite early and considerable European influences on the region, indigenous Latin American traditions still characterize much of the social and artistic heritage of the Latin American countries. Several chapters provide detailed accounts of daily life, including descriptions of contemporary dress, mealtime traditions, transportation, and traditional ways of conducting business. Other chapters focus on the cultural significance of the popular music, art, and literature prevalent in each Latin American country. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Explores a wide range of cultural phenomena to examine both national symbolic orders and national/global tensions resulting from a climate of conflicting economic and political ideologies.

Music of Latin America and the Caribbean, Second Edition is a comprehensive textbook for undergraduate students, which covers all major facets of Latin American music, finding a balance between important themes and illustrative examples. This book is about enjoying the music itself and provides a lively, challenging discussion complemented by stimulating musical examples couched in an appropriate cultural and historical context—the music is a specific response to the era from which it emerges, evolving from common roots to a wide variety of musical traditions. Music of Latin America and the Caribbean aims to develop an understanding of Latin American civilization and its relation to other cultures. NEW to this edition A new chapter overviewing all seven Central American countries An expansion of the chapter on the English- and French-speaking Caribbean An added chapter on transnational genres An end-of-book glossary featuring bolded terms within the text A companion website with over 50 streamed or linked audio tracks keyed to Listening Examples found in the text, in addition to other student and instructors’ resources Bibliographic suggestions at the end of each chapter, highlighting resources for further reading, listening, and viewing Organized along thematic, historical, and geographical lines, Music of Latin America and the Caribbean implores students to appreciate the unique and varied contributions of other cultures while realizing the ways non-Western cultures have influenced Western musical heritage. With focused discussions on genres and styles, musical instruments, important rituals, and the composers and performers responsible for its evolution, the author employs a broad view of Latin American music: every country in Latin America and the Caribbean shares a common history, and thus, a similar musical tradition.

Outside of music, the importance of sound and listening have been greatly overlooked in Latin American history. Visual media has dominated cultural studies, affording an incomplete record of the modern era. This edited volume presents an original analysis of the role of sound in Latin American and Caribbean societies, from the late nineteenth century to the present. The contributors examine the importance of sound in the purveyance of power, gender roles, race, community, religion, and populism. They also demonstrate how sound is essential to the formation of citizenship and nationalism. Sonic media, and radio in particular, have become primary tools for contesting political issues. In that vein, the contributors view the control of radio transmission and those who manipulate its content for political gain. Conversely, they show how, in neoliberal climates, radio programs have exposed corruption and provided a voice for activism. The chapters address sonic production in a variety of media: radio, Internet, digital recordings, phonographs, speeches, carnival performances, fireworks festivals, and the reinterpretation of sound in literature. They examine the embodied experience of listening and its importance to memory coding and identity formation. This collection looks to sonic media as an essential vehicle for transmitting ideologies, imagined communities, and culture. As the contributors discern, sound is ubiquitous, and its study is therefore crucial to understanding the flow of information and influence in Latin America and globally.