Combining shrewd applications of current cultural theory with compelling autobiography and elegant prose; José E. Limón works at the intersection of anthropology; folklore; popular culture; history; and literary criticism. A native of South Texas; he renders a historical and ethnographic account of its rich Mexican-American folk culture. This folk culture; he shows—whether expressed through male joking rituals; ballroom polka dances; folk healing; or eating and drinking traditions—metaphorically dances with the devil; both resisting and accommodating the dominant culture of Texas. Critiquing the work of his precursors— John Gregory Bourke; J. Frank Dobie; Jovita Gonzalez; and Americo Paredes—Limón deftly demonstrates that their accounts of Mexican-Americans in South Texas contain race; class; and gender contradictions; revealed most clearly in their accounts of the folkloric figure of the devil. Limón's own field-based ethnography follows; and again the devil appears as a recurrent motif; signaling the ideological contradictions of folk practices in a South Texas on the verge of postmodernity.
#230352 in Books Ingramcontent 2016-04-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .42 x 5.98l; .0 #File Name: 0295998350184 pagesCalifornia Through Native Eyes Reclaiming History Indigenous Confluences
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