The insignificance of David Bowie: Latin America's refusal of a "world icon". Issue 4 (4th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saavedra Utman, Jorge; Miller, Toby
• Is Part Of: Continuum. Volume 31:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 509
• Page End: 518
• Publication Date: 2017-07-04
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- Australia -- Periodicals; Broadcasting -- Australia -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2017.1334404
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1030-4312

Abstract

Abstract: David Bowie doesn't matter very much. That seems like a bizarre remark, particularly in a special issue dedicated to the opposite view. But in Latin America, he is of minimal importance by contrast with other prominent English-language pop-music exports that journal readers will know, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Smiths or The Cure. How can this be true of an artist who is routinely labelled a world icon? Our paper identifies several reasons: nation-building and rock music's first steps in Latin America, progressive cultural politics, conservative gender norms and a continent dominated by dictatorships when Bowie was becoming a putative 'world icon'.