WHAT DOES BAD BUNNY TEACH US ABOUT THE OTHER AND OTHERS?

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Authors: Bajro Salkunić
Cited by: 0

Abstract

This paper analyzes Bad Bunny's performance during the halftime show of Super Bowl LX from the perspective of Lacanian psychoanalysis. Starting from the registers of the Real, Imaginary, and Symbolic, as well as the concepts of desire, object little a, gaze, and act, the performance is interpreted as a complex staging of the relationship between the subject and the Big Other in the contemporary spectacle. Particular attention is given to the use of the Spanish language, the emphasis on the Puerto Rican flag, the appearances of Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, as well as the symbolic gesture of awarding the Grammy to the boy. These moments are interpreted as attempts to regulate jouissance and destabilize the imaginary identifications that the global audience projects onto the artist. The digital erasure of content from Instagram is further analyzed as a potential psychoanalytic act of withdrawal from the field of the gaze. It is concluded that the performance does not close the structural lack of the subject but makes it visible, leaving the question open as to whether it represents a rupture or a sophisticated reproduction of the Symbolic order.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Psychoanalysis Philosophy and Politics Psychoanalysis and Social Critique Contemporary Cultural and Social Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Publication date
25 February 2026
Language
EN