Imaginarios sociales de las adicciones en las series: representaciones de la hipermodernidad

Abstract

Imaginarios sociales de las adicciones en las series: representaciones de la hipermodernidadThis article briefly introduces a historicization of drug use, from the rituals of Antiquity to hypermodernity, a time characterized by hyper-individualism and the fall of ideals, where drug use appears related to an individual experience and alienation. Faced with the exponential increase in drug use in recent decades, we wonder about the characteristics of substance consumption and what are the social imaginaries about this problem, that is, how society understands this use. One of the privileged ways to access these social imaginaries is through cultural products such as literature, cinema or series. Considering that series are gradually replacing television as privileged forms of consumption by thousands of daily viewers through online platforms, we are interested in studying the representation of drug use that is made in current series. The analysis panorama includes the representation of "hard" drugs in the characterization of anti-heroic characters and in young characters from narratives of the coming-of-age genre, as well as in iconic series that showed the world of drugs such as The Wire. Also included is the analysis of problematic alcohol consumption in university professors and addiction to other drugs such as opioids. This complex kaleidoscope allows us to understand the coordinates of current consumption, which do not always imply an addiction, but which in all cases imply different degrees of suffering.