Mexican Corrido Influence

In A Mexican Self-Portrait, written by many authors, this article focused on the different lifestyles of the poor and rich woman in Mexico. The representations of women in Mexico for both high and lower classes in Latin America were very different. For lower class they were considered “tortilleras’’, however, one of the most well known was referred to as “La China”. La China was one of the most notable types portrayed in the “Mexican Self Portrait”. She was considered to be an unnamed independent woman of the popular class.

Mexican corridos and the subgenre, narcocorridos, are very popular in today’s Hispanic music culture. Like any other musical genre, there are people who are for corridos and people who are against them. The people against corridos frown upon this music, because they believe the lyrics and stories (in corridos) glorify and promote violence, drug trafficking, and criminals. In their eyes, corridos are so problematic, they believe the best thing to do is to erase and/or ban corridos from all music culture. They believe that banning corridos would somehow stop sending people the “wrong” message. On the other hand, the audiences that enjoy corridos feel a connection to the stories and lyrics. Typically, this audience is made up of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Hispanics. Although some people believe that corridos glorify criminal acts, others feel like these songs tell the stories people are too scared to talk about, or that is not often seen or heard in the popular media. These songs mirror stories of people’s

The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela is arguably the most important novel of the Mexican Revolution because of how it profoundly captures the atmosphere and intricacies of the occasion. Although the immediate subject of the novel is Demetrio Macias - a peasant supporter of the Mexican Revolution -, one of its extensive themes is the ambivalence surrounding the revolution in reality as seen from a broader perspective. Although often poetically revered as a ‘beautiful’ revolution, scenes throughout the novel paint the lack of overall benevolence even among the protagonist revolutionaries during the tumultuous days of the revolution. This paper will analyze certain brash characteristics of the venerated revolution as represented by Azuela’s

Cervantes begins her poem with the lines, “In my land, there are no distinctions. The barbed wire politics of oppression have been torn down long ago. The only reminder of past battles, lost or won, is a slight rutting in the fertile lands.” This first stanza sets the tone for the poem as Cervantes chooses to take a stand by trumpeting the virtues of her own homeland, rather than downplay the misgivings present in our society. The line “In my land, there are no distinctions” is an obvious reference to the class structure that is prevalent in our (United States) society. It is this class structure, or modernized caste system, that divides people and puts them in a position to oppress or be oppressed. Hence we have an example of Chicano nationalism in that invariably the Anglos have always risen to power and oppressed those that are on the lower rungs of the caste system, with Chicanos being a prominent member of that group.

Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs, is about a brotherhood of the Mexican people taking a journey with only one thing on their mind; revenge against Huerta and the Federales. In this story, we as the reader are confronted with characters, such as Demetrio Macias, who is destined to lead his people into the depths of retaining an incorrupt lifestyle and hopes to find peace from the effect of war. Although Demetrio is seen as one of the main characters in the novel, we are also briefly engaged in the other revolutionary forces under Pancho Villa, Carranza, Obregon, and by peasants under Zapata. These appositional forces gain strength against the Huerta government as well. The Underdogs almost symbolizes a Robin Hood story, in which, Demetrio and

During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t the only one occurring. Struggling to assimilate into American culture, and suppressed by social injustices convicted by their Anglo counterparts, the Chicano movement was born. In the epic poem “I am Joaquin” written by Rodolfo Gonzales in 1969, we dive into what it means to be a Chicano. Through this poem, we see the struggles of the Chicano people portrayed by the narrator, in an attempt to grasp the American’s attention during the time of these movements. Hoping to shed light on the issues and struggles the Chicano population faced, Gonzales writes this epic in an attempt to strengthen the movement taking place, and to give Chicanos a sense of belonging and solidarity in this now

Throughout the period of the 1st to 16th century, Mexico experienced the emergence and rise of powerful civilizations such as the Teotihuacan, Toltec and ultimately, the greatest empire, Aztec. Many cultural and economic practices of these Mexican civilizations were borrowed from the prior civilization, adapted, and then further developed upon and while many aspects of these practices stayed the same through this time, significant changes occurred as well.

The port Rican writer Miguel Pinero describes the struggle of Latin people who came to America and faced all the harms and worries. From the title of the poem, “Seeking the Cause”, we, the readers, notice how the writer is portraying the distressing situation of the Latin people through a person died seeking the reason behind his misery. According to Pinero,

Throughout history poetry has been written since earlier 2000 B.C. and it was not until the late sixteen centuries, that poetry for Chicanos, (Mexican-American), were getting written. During and after the Mexican-American War of 1848, is when the Mexican-American poetry became popular. However, the real popularity and the creative literature activity among Chicano authors was in the 1960 through the 70’s; l this era being called the Renaissance Era. Chicano's often shape their poetry and solidify their cultural and the struggles of their minority culture. In this paper I am going to compare and contrast two Mexican-American poets. Telling the reader about the different types of poetry each one used, along with ways that they expressed themselves.

The Mexican Corridos of 1910-1930 not only depict the lives of certain foreigners living in Mexico and in the United States during this time, but also illustrate what their experiences were like in such locations. While several individuals criticized the life in Mexico, and others criticized the life in the United States, the one thing that remained constant in almost all corridos was the fact that the criticism of Mexico was mainly aimed at the overall poverty of the country, while criticism of life in the United States focused mostly on the well-being and class of Americans themselves and not so much on the country’s financial status.

The Mexican Revolution brought multiple parties and movements out of the woodwork. In John Womack’s Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, a story of one state’s drive for agrarian reform and its people’s evolving mission was told, with Emiliano Zapata as a pivotal leader. The dynamics of the revolution, however, reach deeper than Womack’s account portrays. While Womack documents the revolutionary path of the Zapatistas from the southern state of Morelos, the story of Pancho Villa, an arguably parallel character fighting for states in the North against the repressive powers of General Victoriano Huerta, reads more as a subplot. The writings of Samuel Brunk, Ana Maria Alonso, and Mariano Azuela shed light on the less simplistic dynamics of

In the book “A Glorious Defeat, Mexico and its War with the United States” written by Timothy J. Henderson. Henderson, a professor of History at Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama, analyses the political and social history of Mexico before and during the Mexican American War of 1846-1848. After the battel with Spain in 1821, the Mexican Government was a disaster, although they manage to be victorious for their independence. The main problem with the Mexican government and its social class was their racial system, for example the higher class will never share power with the lower classes. A small number of Mexicans were educated and most of them were from the upper class, and the lower class were considered to be troublemakers who needed

Women of Latin American culture have incessantly ensued the potent gender roles that have become a social construction of their society over innumerable decades. The profound author of Insurgent Mexico, John Reed, imparts his experiences with the revolutionary leaders of the Mexican Revolution, like Pancho Villa, and was able to witness their culture and more specifically the roles these Mexican women were forced to render by their chauvinistic counterparts. This period of revolution, started to grant women new mantles usually reserved only for men, like participating in fighting for the success of the revolution; any preeminent changes would soon approach, but in the meantime Mexican society run by men enjoyed the regulated traditional

Mariano Azuela's The Underdogs tells the story of a dauntless Indian farmer who almost unintentionally rises to a generalship in Pancho Villa's rebel army during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Though the events that occur throughout the book are not actual events that took place during the revolution, Azuela is able to paint a very realistic picture of the revolution and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the reader as one witnesses the failure of the rebels. This novel is a great teaching tool that reveals truths of the revolution that would not have been given justice through the traditional historical scholarship. Through fictional characters, Azuela's The Underdogs

The underdogs is the most important novel written by Mariano Azuela which is deeply linked to the historical context of how the Mexican Revolution was established, especially in the northern states of Mexico. The Mexican Revolution it was intended to ensure a fairer way of life of the agricultural classes. However, it was harsh, brutal, and bloody complex conflict for the whole country, in which federalism and rebels have been fighting tirelessly for a cause they both believed to be flawless. Azuela follows the performance of a band of revolutionaries who radically transformed politics and Mexican society. Represents the uprising and difficulty of the revolution throughout his novel. Furthermore, describes the rise and fall of Demetrio Macias and his band of rebels who participated and uncovered the hard details effects at the height of the armed phase of the Mexican revolution in the early twentieth century.