YouTubers and Urban Everyday Narratives in Havana

Nadia Nava Contreras

doi:10.16993/iberoamericana.581

YouTubers and Urban Everyday Narratives in Havana

Iberoamericana – Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Volume 52 (2023): Issue 1

By: Nadia Nava Contreras

Open Access

|Nov 2023

Abstract

This paper presents the first academic exploration of the Cuban YouTubesphere. It addresses the surge and momentum of digital content production publicly distributed through the YouTube platform, focusing on Havana-based creators engaging in mobile practices. These media agents feature landmarks, attractions, and quotidian itinerances portraying the city and the changes occurring within and on its representations. By juxtaposing the analysis of a large corpus of videos produced between 2017 and 2022 with netnographic and mobile ethnography observations, the article contextualizes Cuba’s YouTuber boom within the larger framework of the state-led Digital Revolution. Then, it reflects briefly on the implications of YouTubers’ (g)local narratives as 1) objects of affection for the digital diaspora and people interested in Cuba, 2) a form of public space intervention, 3) a digital repository portraying the urban quotidian amidst societal transformations.

Resumen

Este artículo constituye la primera exploración académica de la YouTubósfera cubana. Aborda en concreto el surgimiento y auge de contenidos digitales distribuidos a través de YouTube, concentrándose en creadores digitales que presentan sitios de interés, atracciones turísticas y rutas e itinerancias cotidianas. En sus desplazamientos, dejan entrever las transformaciones ocurridas en la ciudad y en sus representaciones. Yuxtaponiendo el análisis de un amplio corpus de videos producidos entre 2017 y 2022 a observaciones netnográficas y de etnografía móvil, el artículo contextualiza el boom de YouTubers cubanos dentro del marco de la Revolución Digital impulsada desde la oficialidad. En seguida, reflexiona brevemente en torno a las implicaciones de dichas narrativas (g)locales en tanto: 1) objetos de afecto para la diáspora digital y el público interesado en Cuba; 2) intervenciones en el espacio público; 3) repositorio digital de representaciones urbanas en un contexto dominado por transformaciones sociales.

Palabras Clave: YouTubers; Revolución Digital; Cuba; Narrativas de lo cotidiano; Narrativas glocales

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