SPAN 344 Winter 2022
Through TV dramas like Narcos and El Chapo, the lives and names of some of the most infamous Latin American drug kingpins have now become familiar to non-Spanish speaking audiences around the world. Rich in detail on some of the most flamboyant aspects of their extravagant lifestyles, these shows paint a complex picture of what life and death looks like for many men in contemporary Latin America. In this course we will reflect on the way Latin American men are presented and represented in these shows and consider what they say about masculinities in the region. Drawing from key scientific literature on the subject, as well as using evidence from film, fiction and lived experience, we examine the place these melodramas occupy in the production and reproduction of identity formations and the Latin American gendered landscape.