Tucson Humanities Festival – 'Secret Lives: Hidden Identities in Global Popular Culture'
Just as political prisoners turn to internal lives to survive confinement and torture, marginalized people turn to popular culture to survive in hostile societies. From the underground music scene in Iran to the defiant LGBTQ dancers who perform in Russia, individuals use a secret life connected to popular culture in order to protect themselves from the real dangers of exposure. Drawing on examples in fiction, film, theater and social media, Melissa Fitch, University Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, examines the cultural masks that people don to allow for safe personal expression in the face of sanctions from their family, religious community or nation.
This presentation is part of the Tucson Humanities Festival, presented by the UA College of Humanities. For more information about the festival, visit the links below.