Reinventing Ranchera: Music, Language, and Identity in the Southwest.
Wald, Elijah.
2015
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Abstract: Musicians in the southwestern United States have been blending
styles from both sides of the Mexican border since before that border was established in
the mid-nineteenth century. In New Mexico, a population that traces its roots to the first
Spanish-speaking settlers who arrived from Mexico in the sixteenth century developed a new
style of music in the 1960s that has become known as ... read more"New Mexico music. In Los Angeles, a
Chicano rap scene emerged in the early 1990s, followed in the early twenty-first century by
a new style called banda rap that used Spanish-language lyrics and samples of Mexican
ranchera music. These three styles show different mixes of Spanish and English lyrics, and
of music referencing different degrees and forms of Mexican, Hispanic, or Chicano heritage.
Exploring these styles in an interdisciplinary process blending ethnomusicology,
sociolinguistics, and social theory suggests ways in which they have reflected and
influenced different and evolving concepts of Mexican, Hispanic, or Chicano identity. The
divergences between these styles and concepts challenge some common formulations of ethnic
identity, language, and musical style, while suggesting some of the varied ways in which
individuals and groups have rooted their present identities in a mix of historical and
cultural traditions from both sides of the border.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2015.
Submitted to the Dept. of Interdisciplinary.
Advisor: Deborah Pacini Hernandez.
Committee: Jeffrey Summit, Doris Sommer, David Locke, and Mary Catherine O'Connor.
Keywords: Music, Sociolinguistics, and Ethnic studies.read less - ID:
- 3b591m79m
- Component ID:
- tufts:21552
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
