Mexican Ballads Chicano Poems

Mexican Ballads, Chicano Poems combines literary theory with the personal engagement of a prominent Chicano scholar. Recalling his experiences as a student in Texas, José Limón examines the politically motivated Chicano poetry of the 60s and 70s. He bases his analyses on Harold Bloom's theories of literary influence but takes Bloom into the socio-political realm. Limón shows how Chicano poetry is nourished by the oral tradition of the Mexican corrido, or master ballad, which was a vital part of artistic and political life along the Mexican-U.S. border from 1890 to 1930. Limón's use of Bloom, as well as of Marxist critics Raymond Williams and Fredric Jameson, brings Chicano literature into the arena of contemporary literary theory. By focusing on an important but little-studied poetic tradition, his book challenges our ideas of the American canon and extends the reach of Hispanists and folklorists as well.

"Jose Limon is one of our most interesting and important commentators on Chicano culture. . . . [This book] will help strengthen an important style of historically and politically accountable cultural analysis."--Michael M. J. Fischer, co-author of "Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition"

... well-written and well-documented landmark study... " --Choice This book raises important ideological and esthetic questions about the interpretation of artistic and cultural manifestations in a given society."--Hispanic American Historical Review The present volume is provocative in direction and a refreshing addition to the extant literature on the Mexican corrido genre." --American Ethnologist [Herrera-Sobek's] refreshing approach to analyzing masculine attitudes toward the feminine as expressed in the Mexican corrido is not only insightful but courageous." --Inez Cardozo-Freeman, Southern Folklore ... well-researched, insightful, clearly written, and well-illustrated study of a genre familiar in Hispanic culture." --Journal of the American Studies Association ... provides tantalizing insights into the inner workings and meanings of Mexico's favorite folk ballads..." --Journal of Third World Studies Challenging the stereotypical view of the passive Mexican/Chicana woman of the archetype, the author examines the portrayal of female figures in over three thousand corridos or Mexican ballads and shows that in spite of long-dominant patriarchal ideology, the corridos reveal the presence of self-confident women throughout Mexican history. Included are a discography, a detailed bibliography of corrido collections, and several photographs of soldaderas from the internationally famous Augustin Casasola collection.

Gregorio Cortez Lira, a ranchhand of Mexican parentage, was virtually unknown until one summer day in 1901 when he and a Texas sheriff, pistols in hand, blazed away at each other after a misunderstanding. The sheriff was killed and Gregorio fled immediately, realizing that in practice there was one law for Anglo-Texans, another for Texas-Mexicans. The chase, capture, and imprisonment of Cortez are high drama that cannot easily be forgotten. Even today, in the cantinas along both sides of the Rio Grande, Mexicans sing the praises of the great "sheriff-killer" in the ballad which they call "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez." Américo Paredes tells the story of Cortez, the man and the legend, in vivid, fascinating detail in "With His Pistol in His Hand," which also presents a unique study of a ballad in the making. Deftly woven into the story are interpretations of the Border country, its history, its people, and their folkways.

Palabras de mediodia/Noon Words is Lucha CorpiÍs pioneering collection of poems that established her as a major figure in Mexican American literature. Written in Spanish and expertly translated by Catherine Rodriguez-Nieto, the poems fairly bloom off the page in a display of lyric virtuosity. Corpi is the first of the Mexican American poets to explore through deeply personal and intimate feelings potentially explosive political topics, transculturation, the role of women, her commitment to social change, and the grand themes of love and death. Highly sophisticated, enchanting, and well steeped in the literary tradition of Juana de Ibarbourou, Federico Garcia Lorca and Pablo Neruda, CorpiÍs poetry successfully portrays the magic of her childhood in tropical Veracruz, her move to the city and the challenges of modern life in San Luis Potosi and the San Francisco Bay Area. Particularly moving is CorpiÍs struggle to bridge the chasm between the obligations of family life and single parenthood and the career opportunities of the outside world.

"'El sol y los de abajo,' written in 1968 at the height of the Chicano movement, indulges in reminiscences, rejoices, resurrects, and reinvents events almost forgotten about my own Chicano experience. I wrote the poem as an oblation, una ofrenda, for the continuing survivability of something unique and precious--our mestisaje"--Poet's statement from prospectus.

Prologue -- La Veinte: a Santa Monica barrio -- Rubén Ladrón de Guevara Sr., 1914-2006 -- 1742 22nd Street, Barrio La Veinte, Santa Monica -- Palm Springs / Cathedral City / Las Vegas -- Binnie -- La Gatita -- Las Vegas : breakup of the family -- Sue Dean -- Beverly -- Shindig! with Tina Turner and Bo Diddley, 1965 -- The Sunset Strip riots -- The southern belle -- LACC / The New Revelations Gospel Choir -- Miss Santa Barbara -- Frank Zappa / Ruben And The Jets / Rock 'n' Roll Angels / 1972-1974 -- Miss Pamela & the G.T.O.'s (Girls Together Outrageously) -- Miss Claremont -- Miss Chino -- The mutiny -- The movie star and Miss Blue Eyes -- We open for Zappa at Winterland, San Francisco, April, 1973 -- Con Safos the album -- Mexico / Hollywood / The Whisky / Eastside Revue / Zyanya Records -- La gypsy -- The Star Spangled Banner / America the Beautiful -- The Whisky / Con Safos the band, 1980 -- Miss Aztlán -- Gotcha -- Zyanya Records -- Cristina / Día de Los Muertos / Chicano Heaven -- Born in East L.A.--the movie -- HBO/Cinemax special -- Performance art : Mexico and France -- La quemada -- La rebel -- Jammin' with Johnny -- Arts 4 City Youth -- UCLA -- Journey to New Aztlán -- Miss San Francisco : the enchantress -- Miss Mongolia -- Metropolitan State Hospital -- Trinity Elementary School -- Teaching at UCLA -- Miss Tokyo -- Mexamérica the CD -- The Eastside Revue : a musical homage to Boyle Heights, 1922-2002 -- Boyle Heights, LA Times -- Collaborations with Josh Kun -- The Iraq war -- Collaborations with Nobuko Miyamoto / Great Leap / NCRR / MPAC -- Manzanar pilgrimage -- Yellow Pearl remix -- Minutemen protest in Baldwin Park -- Rock 'n' rights : rockin' for the mentally disabled -- Resistance & respect : Los Angeles muralism & graff art -- Miss Bogotá -- Word up! a performance and theater summit at the Ford, 2006 -- Meeting my Okanagan brothers from Westbank First Nation, B.C. Canada -- Epiphany at Joshua Tree -- Miss Altar in the sky -- Rubén Guevara & the Eastside Luvers -- The Tao of Funkahuatl -- The Tao of Funkahuatl the CD -- Mex/LA -- Opening for Los Lobos at the House of Dues -- Fifty years in show biz / The Madeleine Brand Show, NPR, 2011 -- Miss Beijing -- Miss Monterey Park -- End of ten year sex drought -- My 70th birthday party -- Platonic homegirls -- Joseph Trotter -- A Boyle Heights cultural treasure -- The new face of Boyle Heights -- ¡Angelin@s presente! -- Sara Guevara -- Confessions of a radical Chicano Doo Wop singer : the solo, multi-media theater piece -- The fall -- Reflections on L.A