Class Struggle, Commodity Fetishism, and Historical Materialism in the New Latin American Cinema

Bibliographic Data

ID17835322
AuthorsDoğuşcan Göker (0000-0003-1446-7528, Sakarya Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi), Muzaffer Musab Yılmaz (0000-0001-9491-1048, Ahi Evran University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume39
Issue2
Pages327-335
Publication date2026-05-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology Lens (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2832-5796 • E-ISSN: 2832-580X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/johs.70051
OpenAlexW7160285097
LanguageEN
References cited30

This study examines Latin American cinema after the 2010s through the concepts of class struggle, commodity fetishism, and historical materialism. The study aims to discuss how the region's colonial legacy, neoliberal policies, and current political transformations are reproduced in cinematic narratives. The central argument of this study is that the Third Cinema tradition continues in contemporary Latin American cinema not through direct political discourse, but rather through more implicit, fragmented narratives focused on everyday life and tactics that make capitalism's invisible strategies visible. The eight films selected through purposive sampling are chosen not because of their revolutionary cinema claims, but as texts that reveal the structural inequalities and forms of domination created in late capitalism. In these films, class divisions, precarious labor, state violence, patriarchal relations, and neoliberal governance are represented through individuals' everyday experiences. These themes are reflected in the films through meta‐fetishism and alienation, family relationships, spatial arrangements, and emotional labor practices. The study suggests that beyond being an ideological apparatus, cinema offers space for critical thinking. Instead of creating a romanticized narrative of liberation, recent Latin American cinema invites viewers to reflect on the current social order by revealing the contradictions, fragilities, and limited possibilities for resistance

Argument (complex analysis) · Commodity · Historical materialism · Ideology · Latin Americans · Movie theater · Narrative · Neoliberalism (international relations) · Politics · Cinema and Media Studies · Latin American Literature Studies · Politics and Society in Latin America

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access