Download or read book The Salsa Culture Invades America written by Felix Valenzuela and published by . This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Salsa Culture Invades America written by Felix Valenzuela and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MEXICAN PINATAS The traditional Mexican celebration of birthday parties for children involving the breaking of the "Piñata" or "Cartoneria" (popular figurines made by craftsman utilizing cardboard, paper mache or newspapers) is one of the most anticipated activities awaiting families. The most popular figurines are now associated with Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Nemo, the Lion King, etc. The Piñatas are usually filled with different sorts of candies that will be collected on the ground once a lucky child breaks it with a wooden stick. The Piñata is hung on a rope overhead and maneuvered to and fro' from side to side by two individuals oftentimes appearing on top of a roof or on top of a tree {about 10 to 20 feet apart) in order to challenge the children to look for it while they are blindfolded. The fun part comes when loud screams and yelling are heard to offer some form of direction as to the location of the Piñata so that children can swing hard at the moving object. All participants are given a specific amount of time to try and hit the Piñata starting with the youngest to the oldest ones in the party. As it often occurs, the older children are the victors who finally break the Piñata completely open with newspaper material scattered all around revealing the precious candy that is to be gathered at random by all the lucky participants. Hence, the triumphant kids are seen with bags of candies that they themselves collected while shoving others for them. The unlucky ones who collect some or literally no candies are usually taken care of by the promoters of the parties who stack candies separately so that they can have candy to enjoy, too. Vendors selling the popular characters, previously mentioned, in Mexico have been routinely apprehended by federal authorities who seize their illegal merchandize in violation of international copyright laws. Though these vendors are not familiar with copyright laws, they claim that this has been going on for decades without problems. After all, Mexico has been exporting popular Piñatas to the U.S. for many years. All that the vendors have had to do is to render full cooperation enforced by 'los federates' (federal officials) who force their infamous 'under the table' schemes known as "La Mordida." This Mexican traditional is now widespread throughout the U.S. as hordes of Mexican and American families buy Piñatas to celebrate birthdays, Christmas festivities and the "Posadas",4th of July, New Years Eve giving way to the new year, Mexican independence or 16th of September, and "Cinco de Mayo," etc. Hardly no one knows what a Piñata is all about. VII. The Origins of Mexico and its Builders. Centuries later, modem scholars offer us more in-depth studies into the vast continent of Mexico. William H. Prescott, perhaps the most famous historian of the Ancient Americans and the continent they inhabited long before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, shares the following perspective: Midway across the continent, somewhat nearer the Pacific than the Atlantic Ocean, at an elevation of nearly seven thousand five hundred feet, is the celebrated Valley of Mexico. Itis of an oval form, about sixty-seven leagues in circumference, and is encompassed by a towering rampart of porphyritic rock, which nature seems to have provided, though ineffectually, to protect it from invasion. The soil, once carpeted ·with a beautiful verdure, and thickly sprinkled with stately trees, is often bare, and, in many places, white with the incrustation of salts, caused by the draining of the waters. Five lakes are spread over the Valley, occupying one tenth of its surface. On the opposite borders of the largest of these basins, much shrunk in its dimensions since the days of the Aztecs, stood the cities of Mexico and Tezcuco, the capitals of the two most potent and flourishing states of Anahuac, whose history, with that of the mysterious races that preceded them in the country, exhibits some of the nearest approaches to civili2.ation to be met with anciently on the North American continent. Of these races, the most conspicuous were the Toltecs. Advancing from a northerly direction but from what region is uncertain, they entered the territory of Anahuac,. probably before the close of the seventh century. The Toltecs were well instructed in agriculture, and many of the most useful mechanic arts; were nice workers of metals; invented the complex arrangement of time adopted by the Aztecs; and, in short, were the true fountains of the civilization which distinguished this part of the continent in latter times. They established their capital at Tula, north of the Mexican Valley, and the remains of extensive buildings were to be discerned there at the time of the Conquest. The noble ruins of religious and other edifices still to be seen in various parts of New Spain, are referred to this people, whose name, Toltec, has passed into a synonym for architect. Their shadowy history reminds us of those native races, who preceded the ancient Egyptians in the march of civilization; fragments of whose monuments, as they are seen at this day, incorporated with the buildings of the Egyptians themselves, give to these latter the appearance of almost modem construction. After a period of four centuries, the Toltecs, who had extended their sway over the remotest borders of Anahuac having been greatly reduced, it is said, by famine, pestilence, and unsuccessful wars, disappeared from the land as silently and mysteriously as they had entered it. After the lapse of another hundred years, a numerous and rude tribe, called the Chichemecs entered the deserted country from the regions of the far Northwest. They were speedily followed by other races of higher civilization, perhaps of the same family with the Toltecs, whose language they appear to have spoken. The most noted of these were the Aztecs or Mexicans, and the Acolhuans. The latter known in latter times by the name of Tezcucans, from their capital, Tezcuco, on the eastern border of the Mexican lake, were peculiarly fitted, by their comparatively mild religion and manners, for receiving the tincture of civilization which. could be derived from the Toltecs that still remained in the country. This, in tum, they communicated to the barbarous Chichemecs, a large portion of whom became amalgamated with the new settlers as one nation. The Mexicans, with whom our history is principally concerned, came, also as we have seen, from the remote regions of the North, -the populous hive of nations in the New World, as it has been in the Old They arrived on the borders of Anahuac, towards the beginning of the thirteenth century, sometime after the occupation of the land by the kindred races. For a long time they did not establish themselves in any parts of the Mexican Valley, enduring all the casualties and hardships of a migratory life. On one occasion, they were enslaved by a more powerful tribe but their ferocity soon made them formidable to their masters. After a series of wanderings and adventures, which need not shrink from comparison with the most extravagant legends of the heroic ages of antiquity, they at length halted on the southwestern borders of the principal lake, in the year 1325. They there beheld, perched on the stem of a prickly pear, which shot out from crevice of a rock that was washed by the waves, a royal eagle of extraordinary size and beauty, with a serpent in his talons, and his broad wings opened to the rising sun. They hailed the auspicious omen, announced by the oracle, as indicating the site of their future city, and laid its foundations by sinking piles into the shallows; for the low marshes were half buried under water. On these they erected their light fabrics of reeds and ruches; and sought a precarious subsistence from fishing, and from the wildfowl which the Waters, as well as from the cultivation of such simple vegetables as they could raise on their floating gardens. The place was called Tenochtitlan, in token of its miraculous origin, though only known to Europeans by its other name Mexico, derived from their war-god, Mexitli. The legend of its foundation is still further commemorated by the device of the eagle and the cactus, which form the arms of the modern Mexican republic. Such were the humble beginnings of the Venice of the Western World.
Download or read book The Great American Mosaic 4 volumes written by Gary Y. Okihiro and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 1985 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Firsthand sources are brought together to illuminate the diversity of American history in a unique way—by sharing the perspectives of people of color who participated in landmark events. This invaluable, four-volume compilation is a comprehensive source of documents that give voice to those who comprise the American mosaic, illustrating the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Each volume focuses on a major racial/ethnic group: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Latinos. Documents chosen by the editors for their utility and relevance to popular areas of study are organized into chronological periods from historical to contemporary. The collection includes eyewitness accounts, legislation, speeches, and interviews. Together, they tell the story of America's diverse population and enable readers to explore historical concepts and contexts from multiple viewpoints. Introductions for each volume and primary document provide background and history that help students understand and critique the material. The work also features a useful primary document guide, bibliographies, and indices to aid teachers, librarians, and students in class work and research.
Download or read book Spanish Language Television in the United States written by Kenton T. Wilkinson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its introduction in the early 1960s, Spanish-language television in the United States has grown in step with the Hispanic population. Industry and demographic projections forecast rising influence through the 21st century. This book traces U.S. Spanish-language television’s development from the 1960s to 2013, illustrating how business, regulation, politics, demographics and technological change have interwoven during a half century of remarkable change for electronic media. Spanish-language media play key social, political and economic roles in U.S. society, connecting many Hispanics to their cultures of origin, each other, and broader U.S. society. Yet despite the population’s increasing impact on U.S. culture, in elections and through an estimated $1.3 trillion in spending power in 2014, this is the first comprehensive academic source dedicated to the medium and its history. The book combines information drawn from the business press and trade journals with industry reports and academic research to provide a balanced perspective on the origins, maturation and accelerated growth of a significant ethnic-oriented medium.
Download or read book Living in Spanglish written by Ed Morales and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chicano. Cubano. Pachuco. Nuyorican. Puerto Rican. Boricua. Quisqueya. Tejano. To be Latino in the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has meant to fierce identification with roots, with forbears, with the language, art and food your people came here with. America is a patchwork of Hispanic sensibilities-from Puerto Rican nationalists in New York to more newly arrived Mexicans in the Rio Grande valley-that has so far resisted homogenization while managing to absorb much of the mainstream culture. Living in Spanglish delves deep into the individual's response to Latino stereotypes and suggests that their ability to hold on to their heritage, while at the same time working to create a culture that is entirely new, is a key component of America's future. In this book, Morales pins down a hugely diverse community-of Dominicans, Mexicans, Colombians, Cubans, Salvadorans and Puerto Ricans--that he insists has more common interests to bring it together than traditions to divide it. He calls this sensibility Spanglish, one that is inherently multicultural, and proposes that Spanglish "describes a feeling, an attitude that is quintessentially American. It is a culture with one foot in the medieval and the other in the next century." In Living in Spanglish , Ed Morales paints a portrait of America as it is now, both embracing and unsure how to face an onslaught of Latino influence. His book is the story of groups of Hispanic immigrants struggling to move beyond identity politics into a postmodern melting pot.
Download or read book Caribbean Romances written by Belinda Edmondson and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten young scholars from a variety of disciplines explore how the concept of romance, initially constructed in the imperial imagination of Europe and America, is employed within contemporary Caribbean popular culture and literature to idealize the newly independent, postcolonial societies of the region. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book Voices of the U S Latino Experience 3 volumes written by Rodolfo F. Acuña Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2008-08-30 with total page 1242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history and experiences of the diverse groups labeled Latinos in this country are abundantly documented in this major new collection. From the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1803 to remembrances of life on the frontier, to the Young Lords platform of 1969, to a discussion of Latinos and the war on Iraq today, this 3-volume collection showcases more than 400 crucial primary documents from and concerning the major Latino groups in the United States. Sources include letters, memoirs, speeches, articles, essays, interviews, treaties, government reports, testimony, and more. The voices include whites as well as Latinos, prominent and obscure, and Americans as well as foreigners. The bulk of the primary documents concern Mexico and the United States and Mexican Americans, who paved the way for immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Central and South America to come. The scope also includes primary documents pertaining to events in Latin American and Caribbean history that have had an impact on these groups. Each primary document has a short introduction, placing it in historical and cultural context. An introduction that gives an historical overview, a chronology, a selected bibliography chock full of useful websites, and a set index provide added value. Sample documents: memoirs of early Texas, commentary by a Mexican diplomat on the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848, essay on the social condition of New Mexico in 1852, Cuban independence leader Jose Marti in New York on race (1894), El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez— a ballad about a Mexican who stood up to the Texas Rangers in 1901, excerpts from an autobiography by Ella Winter on school segregation in the 1930s, a Latino soldier's reminiscences of World War II, testimony from a Bracero worker in the 1950s, article on Cuban Miami in the 1960s, socioeconomic profile of Dominicans in the United States in 2000, interview with Subcomandante Marcos from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures written by Daniel Balderston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2000-12-07 with total page 1833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This vast three-volume Encyclopedia offers more than 4000 entries on all aspects of the dynamic and exciting contemporary cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean. Its coverage is unparalleled with more than 40 regions discussed and a time-span of 1920 to the present day. "Culture" is broadly defined to include food, sport, religion, television, transport, alongside architecture, dance, film, literature, music and sculpture. The international team of contributors include many who are based in Latin America and the Caribbean making this the most essential, authoritative and authentic Encyclopedia for anyone studying Latin American and Caribbean studies. Key features include: * over 4000 entries ranging from extensive overview entries which provide context for general issues to shorter, factual or biographical pieces * articles followed by bibliographic references which offer a starting point for further research * extensive cross-referencing and thematic and regional contents lists direct users to relevant articles and help map a route through the entries * a comprehensive index provides further guidance.
Download or read book Literary Culture and U S Imperialism written by John Carlos Rowe and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2000 with total page 739 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Carlos Rowe, considered one of the most eminent and progressive critics of American literature, has in recent years become instrumental in shaping the path of American studies. His latest book examines literary responses to U.S. imperialism from the late eighteenth century to the 1940s. Interpreting texts by Charles Brockden Brown, Poe, Melville, John Rollin Ridge, Twain, Henry Adams, Stephen Crane, W. E. B Du Bois, John Neihardt, Nick Black Elk, and Zora Neale Hurston, Rowe argues that U.S. literature has a long tradition of responding critically or contributing to our imperialist ventures. Following in the critical footsteps of Richard Slotkin and Edward Said, Literary Culture and U.S. Imperialism is particularly innovative in taking account of the public and cultural response to imperialism. In this sense it could not be more relevant to what is happening in the scholarship, and should be vital reading for scholars and students of American literature and culture.
Download or read book Salsa Soul and Spirit written by Juana Bordas and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2007-05-05 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tapping the potential of the changing workforce, consumer base, and citizenry requires a leadership approach that resonates with our country's growing diversity. In Salsa, Soul, and Spirit, Juana Bordas shows how incorporating Latino, African American, and American Indian approaches to leadership into the mainstream has the potential to strengthen leadership practice and inspire today's ethnically rich workforce. Bordas identifies eight core leadership principles common to all three cultures, principles deeply rooted in each culture's values and developed under the most trying conditions. Using a lively blend of personal reflections, interviews with leaders from each community, historical background, and insightful analysis, she shows how these principles developed and illustrates the creative ways they've been put into practice in these communities as well as in some forward-looking companies. Bordas brings these principles together into a multicultural leadership model that offers a more flexible and inclusive way to lead and a new vision of the role of the leader in the organization. Multicultural leadership resonates with many cultures and encourages diverse people to actively engage, contribute, and tap their potential. In a globalized economy, success for leaders in the future will rest on their ability to shift to a multicultural approach. Salsa, Soul, and Spirit provides conceptual and practical guidelines for beginning that process.
Download or read book The Book of Salsa written by César Miguel Rondón and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rondón tells the engaging story of salsa's roots in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, and of its emergence and development in the 1960s as a distinct musical movement in New York. Rondón presents salsa as a truly pan-Caribbean phenomenon, emerging in the migrations and interactions, the celebrations and conflicts that marked the region. Although salsa is rooted in urban culture, Rondón explains, it is also a commercial product produced and shaped by professional musicians, record producers, and the music industry. --from publisher description.
Download or read book The Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean written by Harry Sanabria and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This wide-ranging introduction to the anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean offers broad coverage of culture and society in the region, taking into account historical developments as well as the roles of power and inequality. The chapters address key topics such as colonialism, globalization, violence, religion, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, health, and food, and emphasize the impact of Latin American and Caribbean peoples and cultures in the United States. The text has been thoroughly updated for the second edition, including fresh case studies and new chapters on independence, neoliberalism and immigration, and popular culture and the digital revolution. Students are provided with a solid overview of the major contemporary trends, issues, and debates in the field. Each chapter ends with a summary, up-to-date recommendations for viewing films/videos and websites, and a comprehensive bibliography for further reading and research.
Download or read book Urban Culture written by Alan C Turley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-09-07 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative text uses the lens of culture to examine the various theoretical perspectives and paradigms of urban analysis. It explores the city's impact on how we make and consume all types of culture—art, music, literature, architecture, film, and more—not only illustrating the effects the urban environment has on the production of culture, but, at times, how culture has influenced the city. Theoretically diverse, Urban Culture employs the major theoretical perspectives in sociology and the major paradigms in Urban Sociology and Urban Studies: Urban Ecology, Marxism, New Urbanism, Socio-Psychological Perspective, Structuralists/Econometrics, and Urban Elites/ Entrepreneurs. Urban Terrorism is also addressed to provide a timely examination of the cultural impact and sociological effects of terrorism in an urban setting.
Download or read book The Dialectics of Our America written by José David Saldívar and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1991-10-31 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joining the current debates in American literary history, José David Saldívar offers a challenging new perspective on what constitutes not only the canon in American literature, but also the notion of America itself. His aim is the articulation of a fresh, transgeographical conception of American culture, one more responsive to the geographical ties and political crosscurrents of the hemisphere than to narrow national ideologies. Saldívar pursues this goal through an array of oppositional critical and creative practices. He analyzes a range of North American writers of color (Rolando Hinojosa, Gloria Anzaldúa, Arturo Islas, Ntozake Shange, and others) and Latin American authors (José Martí, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Gabriel García Márquez, and others), whose work forms a radical critique of the dominant culture, its politics, and its restrictive modes of expression. By doing so, Saldívar opens the traditional American canon to a dialog with other voices, not just the voices of national minorities, but those of regional cultures different from the prevalent anglocentric model. The Dialectics of Our America, in its project to expand the “canon” and define a pan-American literary tradition, will make a critical difference in ongoing attempts to reconceptualize American literary history.
Download or read book Studies in Latin American Popular Culture written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Globalization and American Popular Culture written by Lane Crothers and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-02-12 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in a fully updated edition, this concise book explores the ways American movies, TV, music, fast food, sports, gaming, and fashion influence globalization. Projecting the future impact of popular culture, from both the United States and elsewhere, Crothers makes a powerful argument for its central role in shaping global politics and economies.
Download or read book Ethnic Groups of the Americas written by James B. Minahan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 718 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended to help students explore ethnic identity—one of the most important issues of the 21st century—this concise, one-stop reference presents rigorously researched content on the national groups and ethnicities of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Combining up-to-date information with extensive historical and cultural background, the encyclopedia covers approximately 150 groups arranged alphabetically. Each engaging entry offers a short introduction detailing names, population estimates, language, and religion. This is followed by a history of the group through the turn of the 19th century, with background on societal organization and culture and expanded information on language and religious beliefs. The last section of each entry discusses the group in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, including information on its present situation. Readers will also learn about demographic trends and major population centers, parallels with other groups, typical ways of life, and relations with neighbors. Major events and notable challenges are documented, as are key figures who played a significant political or cultural role in the group's history. Each entry also provides a list for further reading and research.
