Chicano Popular Culture

by Tatum, Charles M.

• ISBN13: 9780816519835
• ISBN10: 0816519838
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr

Summary

Over the past several decades,Mexican Americans have made an indelible mark on American culture through the music of bands such as Santana and Los Lobos, films such asZoot Suit,and a wide range of literature, such as Sandra Cisneros'sThe House on Mango Street. Now Charles Tatum introduces students to these and other forms of artistic expression in the first volume to provide a wide-ranging overview of Chicano popular culture. Tatum explores the broad and complex arena of popular culture among Americans of Mexican descent and explains what popular culture can tell them about themselves. Reviewing a range of expressive arts, from traditional forms to electronic media, he explains the differences and similarities between Chicano popular culture and that of other ethnic groups or of Anglo society and shows how Chicano arts reflect a people's traditions and heritage. The book's coverage focuses on five areas of popular culture. It explores Mexican American and Chicano music from the sixteenth century to the present day; cinema, focusing on Chicano films of the past three decades; newspapers, radio, and television, explaining the interrelationship between these media; literature, emphasizing fiction, theater, and poetry of the last thirty years; and fiestas, celebrations, and art, including mural and graffiti art. Tatum provides a brief overview of Mexican American social history, paying particular attention to changing cultural perspectives over the past 150 years and the evolution ofel movimiento chicano. He also introduces theories of popular culture and makes them accessible to students, enabling them to better understand the material covered in the text. No other book offers such a wide-ranging introduction to these cultural expressions of Mexican Americans today.Chicano Popular Cultureinvites readers to share the excitement of these vital arts and, through them, to learn more about the uniqueness of America's fastest-growing minority.Chicano Popular Cultureand Mexican Americans and Health are the first volumes in the seriesThe Mexican American Experience,a cluster of modular texts designed to provide greater flexibility in undergraduate education. Each book deals with a single topic concerning the Mexican American population. Instructors can create a semester-length course from any combination of volumes, or may choose to use one or two volumes to complement other texts.

Table of Contents

Figures	vii
List of Acronyms	ix
Introduction: The Study of Popular Culture	xi
Labels and Terms	xi
Historical Background	xiii
Organization of This Book	xxvi
Suggested Readings	xxvii
Definitions and Theoretical Approaches to Popular Culture	3	(11)
Definitions of Popular Culture	3	(2)
Theoretical Approaches to Popular Culture	5	(9)
Discussion Questions	13	(1)
Suggested Readings	13	(1)
Music	14	(36)
Popular Hispanic Folk Music of the Southwest	14	(8)
Musica Tejana	22	(9)
Chicano Music on the West Coast	31	(13)
Trans-Regional Chicano Music	44	(6)
Discussion Questions	48	(1)
Suggested Readings	49	(1)
Cinema	50	(39)
Race and Ethnicity in America Movies	50	(2)
Hollywood's Portrayal of Mexicans and Mexican Americans from the 1910s through the 1970s	52	(6)
Chicano Cinema	58	(1)
Chicano Feature-Length Films Since the 1970s	59	(17)
Hollywood Hispanic Films	76	(5)
The Current State of Chicanos in U.S. Cinema	81	(8)
Appendix: Chicano Cinema of the Late 1960s through the 1990s	82	(5)
Discussion Questions	87	(1)
Suggested Readings	88	(1)
Newspapers, Radio, and Television	89	(29)
Newspapers	89	(12)
Radio	101	(5)
Television	106	(12)
Discussion Questions	116	(1)
Suggested Readings	117	(1)
Popular Literature	118	(35)
Popular Writers Pre-1965	118	(4)
The Chicano Movement and the Forming of an Artistic Consciousness	122	(15)
The Ascendancy of Popular Writing by Chicanas	137	(4)
Current Chicano Popular Literature	141	(12)
Discussion Questions	151	(1)
Suggested Readings	152	(1)
Art, Celebrations, and Other Popular Traditions	153	(38)
Popular Art	153	(28)
Celebrations	181	(6)
Other Popular Traditions	187	(4)
Discussion Questions	189	(1)
Suggested Readings	189	(2)
Conclusion	191	(2)
Works Cited	193	(10)
Index	203