Latin-american narco-scapes: the search for ways of identification

Abstract

Cinema is an important tool to attribute meanings and to build identities, for better or worse. In this article, we will analyze the construction of the Latin American identity and some of its stigmas and social hazards, associated with its colonial past and its consequent marginal position in the international labour division, through different cinematic lenses. This analysis will be part of a more specific reflection about the narco-scapes built by a set of mainstream films. Firstly, we will approach the ideologic content that historically produces symbolic violence against the Latin American nations, building and reinforcing stereotypes. Secondly, we will discuss the economic relations chain that sustains this kind of symbolic production that, as we will see in the third part, finds support in the discourse and politics of the War on Drugs. Finally, we will bring alternative approaches from films that propose a problematization and rethinking of the narco-scapes and even the narco-economy.