"Chavez uses the songs of the borderlands to talk about immigration into the US and the culture that has sprung up around the border. He pulls in both history and current situations – and best of all, his own experiences as a Mexican academic and musician – to create a multidimensional, gorgeous book." - Alejandra Oliva (Remezcla) "Bold and engaging. . . . Teeming with moments of intimacy, and a genuine attention to humanity. . . . Courageous and timely. . . . <i>Sounds of Crossing</i> will be of interest not only to scholars across disciplines and musical genres, as it relates aurality and aesthetics to political and social life, but also to non-academic lovers of music. This is a book of humanity, and a book of stories." - Nandini Rupa Banerjee-Datta (Current Musicology) "Alex E. ChÁvez has made an important contribution in the fields of cultural anthropology, ethnomusicology, folklore, history, and immigration studies with his work, <i>Sounds of Crossing</i>. . . . A must read for those interested in the lives, experiences, and music of undocumented people in the United States." - José R. López Morín (Anthropos) "Few scholarly works have attempted to link the study of popular music and literary practices to the experience of international migration and fewer still have done so in as compelling a way as ChÁvez has done." - David Spener (Bulletin of Latin American Research) "<i>Sounds of Crossing</i> succeeds in introducing Huapango Arribeno to the world, articulately weaving between the daunting cliffs of anthropological theory and the lush valleys of sung poetry and anecdote, carrying the mellifluous sounds of Espanol and a vihuela on its back, greeting across space and time, singing the songs of the unheard." - Renata Yazzie (Linguistic Anthropology) "The rigor and depth of both the ethnographic and musical work in this text, and the joining of the two, is a rare find in contemporary ethnography." - Kristina M. Jacobsen (Anthropological Quarterly)

In Sounds of Crossing Alex E. ChÁvez explores the contemporary politics of Mexican migrant cultural expression manifest in the sounds and poetics of huapango arribeÑo, a musical genre originating from north-central Mexico. Following the resonance of huapango's improvisational performance within the lives of audiences, musicians, and himself-from New Year's festivities in the highlands of Guanajuato, Mexico, to backyard get-togethers along the back roads of central Texas-ChÁvez shows how Mexicans living on both sides of the border use expressive culture to construct meaningful communities amid the United States’ often vitriolic immigration politics. Through ChÁvez's writing, we gain an intimate look at the experience of migration and how huapango carries the voices of those in Mexico, those undertaking the dangerous trek across the border, and those living in the United States. Illuminating how huapango arribeÑo’s performance refigures the sociopolitical and economic terms of migration through aesthetic means, ChÁvez adds fresh and compelling insights into the ways transnational music-making is at the center of everyday Mexican migrant life.
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Alex E. Chavez explores the contemporary politics of Mexican migrant cultural expression manifest in huapango arribeno, a musical genre from north-central Mexico that helps Mexicans build communities on both sides of the US border and give voice to the transnational migrant experience.
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Acknowledgments  xi
Introduction: American Border/Lands  1
1. Aurality and the Long American Century  34
2. Companions of the Calling  62
3. Verses and Flows at the Dawn of Neoliberal Mexico  130
4. Regional Sounds: Mexican Texas and the Semiotics of Citizenship  198
5. From Potosi to Tennessee: Clandestine Desires and the Poetic Border  232
6. Huapango sin Fronteras: Mapping What Matters and Other Paths  278
Conclusion: They Dreamed of Bridges  316
Epilogue: "Born in the U.S.A."  327
Appendix A: Musical Transcriptions  331
Appendix B: Improvised Saludados  349
Notes  361
References  387
Index  411
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780822370093
Publisert
2017-12-01
Utgiver
Duke University Press
Vekt
603 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
440

Forfatter

Biografisk notat

Alex E. ChÁvez is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and produced the album Serrano de CorazÓn by Guillermo VelÁzquez y Los Leones de la Sierra de XichÚ.