Narcocorridos as a “return to the Middle Ages”: a reading from Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias

Abstract

This work proposes a long-term reading of narcocorridos as a fundamental component of narco-culture in Latin America, justifying their relevance through their role in the symbolic reconfiguration of violence and heroism. Its objective is to analyze narcocorridos as an aesthetic and thematic continuity of the troubadour sirventes, Spanish popular ballads, and Mexican corridos, as well as to examine their function within the contemporary social imaginary. The study is situated in the context of Norbert Elias’s modern civilizing process, which relegated violence to marginality, and explores how narco-culture reverses this tendency by revalorizing violence as a legitimate mechanism for power consolidation and conflict resolution. The methodology combines a historical-cultural approach with theoretical tools from Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu, particularly field theory, and symbolic capital. The article concludes that narcocorridos articulate a symbolic struggle that subverts traditional values and gradually permeates society.