1887
Art and the expression of complex identities
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

This paper analyzes a parody of the tango “A media luz” that was performed by Rodolfo Garcia, a Mexican American comedian who worked in his family’s tent show, the Carpa Garcia, in the early 1940s. I argue that by juxtaposing the generic conventions of the tango with those of the canción ranchera and by introducing carnivalesque humor, Mr. Garcia’s parody articulated a distinctly local Mexican American identity which was strongly linked to a sense of working-class masculinity. In this way, the parody highlights the class- and gender-based contradictions that were inherent in ongoing processes of Mexican American identity fonnation at mid-century.

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/content/journals/10.1075/prag.10.1.06han
2000-01-01
2025-02-07
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): genre; greater Mexico; popular theater
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