Pablo Escobar is not only part of Colombia’s cruel past but also of its very difficult present. Escobar was one of the first major modern drug traffickers, and the founder and head of the Medellín Cartel. He was responsible for more than four thousand deaths. He had an incalculable fortune and appeared for seven consecutive years on Forbes Magazine’s list of the ten richest men on earth. Despite his brutal and painful legacy, a quarter century after his death the capo seems more alive than ever. Items related to the kingpin of cocaine are produced on a massive scale, including films, biographies, tourist souvenirs, t-shirts, and dolls. Some actual geographical spaces that bear the drug lord’s mark attract millions of tourists and locals every year. However, Escobar’s representations and their global circulation outrage many Colombians who not only remember the terror of Escobar but also face the consequences of being associated with the drug business simply because of their nationality. What we know today about Escobar’s life is in great part the result of a story that has been continuously reshaped by literature, art, and popular culture. The print media, however, were the first to put their ink to the service of the character. This dissertation aims precisely at examining the initial traces of Escobar’s character that the Colombian print media helped to sketch. Focusing specifically on the period from 1976, the year when the first public reference to Escobar appeared in Colombian journalism, until 1993, the year of Escobar’s death, I argue that the moral tensions that permeate Escobar’s character today were built in from the beginning. This dissertation explores how the character of Escobar was shaped and how the narco culture that he represented was built and transformed. It demonstrates how journalism can contribute to the construction of public figures, like Escobar, whose values contradict those of a democratic society. That is, this project aims to understand the persuasive character of the violent figure of Escobar.

Creator

• Uribe Rincón, Catalina

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-twex-ge50

Subject

• Journalism
• Rhetoric
• Latin American studies

Language

• en

Alternate Identifier

• etdadmin_upload_761642
• http://dissertations.umi.com/northwestern:15225

Keyword

• Pablo Escobar
• Colombian Newspapers
• Persona
• Humor
• Metaphor
• The War on Drugs

Date created

• 2020-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright