Gender and the contemporary audio-visual landscape of Mexico.

The presence of bodies and sex in detective fiction has been a long-term feature of this internationally popular genre. Titillation is at the centre of narratives reliant upon discovery and revelation: motives and criminals are slowly revealed, along with sexualized and violated bodies – from femmes fatales to the corpses of victims. A satisfying, gratifying genre for its readership, the detective novel promises the disruption and subsequent restoration of order in societies tarnished by disillusionment which hope for a better future. This book takes as its focus examples of detective fiction from Cuba and Mexico during or in the aftermath of huge social upheaval (the Special Period and the War on Drugs), analyzing representations of sexualities, bodies, and the genre itself. Through an investigation of novels by Leonardo Padura and Amir Valle of Cuba, and Bef and Rogelio Guedea of Mexico, this work investigates increasingly fluid sexualities and bodies in challenging examples of metaphysical detective fiction, a particularly anxious subgenre which challenges both the structures and limits of the detective novel and the reader’s understanding of true and false and right and wrong, representative of troubling periods of severe social disruption for Cuba and Mexico.

2016 Victoria Urbano Critical Monograph Book Prize, presented by the International Association of Hispanic Feminine Literature and Culture Winner of the 2018 Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize presented by the Modern Language Association Honorable Mention, 2018 Elli Kongas-Maranda Professional Award presented by the Women's Studies Section of the American Folklore Society Analyzes cultural materials that grapple with gender and blackness to revise traditional interpretations of Mexicanness. México’s Nobodies examines two key figures in Mexican history that have remained anonymous despite their proliferation in the arts: the soldadera and the figure of the mulata. B. Christine Arce unravels the stunning paradox evident in the simultaneous erasure (in official circles) and ongoing fascination (in the popular imagination) with the nameless people who both define and fall outside of traditional norms of national identity. The book traces the legacy of these extraordinary figures in popular histories and legends, the Inquisition, ballads such as “La Adelita” and “La Cucaracha,” iconic performers like Toña la Negra, and musical genres such as the son jarocho and danzón. This study is the first of its kind to draw attention to art’s crucial role in bearing witness to the rich heritage of blacks and women in contemporary México.

"Examines the political and social influences behind the creation of the postrevolutionary Mexican welfare state in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s"--Provided by publisher.

Mexican American women have endured several layers of discrimination deriving from a strong patriarchal tradition and a difficult socioeconomic and cultural situation within the US ethnic and class organization. However, there have been groups of women who have defied their fates at different times and in diverse forms. Mexican American Women, Dress, and Gender observes how Pachucas, Chicanas, and Cholas have used their body image (dress, hairstyle, and body language) as a political tool of deviation and attempts to measure the degree of intentionality in said oppositional stance. For this purpose and, claiming the sociological power of photographs as a representation of precise sociohistorical moments, this work analyzes several photographs of women of said groups; with the aim of proving the relevance of "other" body images in expressing gender and ethnic identification, or disidentification from the mainstream norm. Proposing a diachronic, comparative approach to young Mexican American women, this monograph will appeal to students and researchers interested in Chicano History, Race and Ethnic Studies, American History, Feminism, and Gender Studies.

Tracing the historical development of Mexico from the pre-Hispanic period to the present, the Historical Dictionary of Mexico, Third Edition, is an excellent resource for students, teachers, researchers, and the general public. This reference work includes a detailed chronology, an introduction surveying the country’s history, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section includes cross-referenced entries on the historical actors who shaped Mexican history, as well as entries on politics, government, the economy, culture, and the arts.

... 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.

The aim of this book is to engender Mexican folk art and locate women at its centre by studying the processes of creation, distribution, and consumption, as well as examining iconographic aspects, and elements of class and ethnicity, from the perspective of gender. The author will demonstrate that the topic provides unique insights into Mexican culture, and has enormous relevance within and without the country, given the fact that much folk art is made for the United States and Europe, either in terms of the tourists who buy it on coming to Mexico, or that which is exported.

Crisis TV addresses the motif of crisis that has come to dominate contemporary Hispanic televisual production since 2008 and the onset of the global financial crisis. In almost unprecedented fashion, the global economy came to a standstill, reshaping both geopolitical organizations and, more importantly, the lives of billions across the globe. The Great Recession, sociopolitical instabilities, the rise of extremist political parties and governments, and a worldwide pandemic have resulted in a mode of crisis that pervades contemporary television fiction. 2008 also marks a revolution in television, as local and global streaming services began to gain market share and even overtake traditional over-the-air transmission. The essays in Crisis TV identify and analyze the narrative tropes and aesthetic qualities of Hispanic television post-2008 to understand how different regions and genres have negotiated these intersecting crises and changing dynamics in production, dissemination, and consumption.

Explores the imagery of woman in Mexican art and visual culture. Examines how woman signified a variety of concepts, from modernity to authenticity and revolutionary social transformation, both before and after the Mexican Revolution.