New Cultural Identities Through Literature and Rock Music in Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Argentrna, Brazil)

Book excerpt: The emergence of rock music in the middle of the 1950s was a key milestone for popular, mass media culture in the 20th Century. Its impact was felt immediately by the culture industry as there was suddenly a fresh, untapped market--the youth market--toward which it could direct its attention. With rock came new aesthetic realms not only in music, but also in fashion and graphic design. Its impact on literature was less palpable, though its influence ran deep among several young writers from Latin America, opened up a new realm with which to identify, and was a key component in the formation of the Tropicália movement in Brazil. By the 1960s, rock had become the soundtrack for the newly liberated youth. With millions of fans, musicians such as Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones, transcended their role as performers to become icons of the counterculture.