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300 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Chicano Popular Culture: Que Hable el Pueblo The University of Arizona Press, 2001 By Charles M. Tatum In his book, Chicano Popukr Culture: Que Habk elPuebk, Charles M. Tatum takes a panoramic view of Chicano popular culture. He focuses especially on places where high Chicano concentrations can be found, namely, rhe Southwest region of the United States: Texas, California, Arizona , New Mexico, and Colorado. In this brief book the author draws together information on the topic from different critics, historians, scholars , and thepuebk itself. As the author himself explains, the book is not a complete study of all forms of Chicano popular culture in the United States, but can be an excellent reference manual. It is perfect for students interested in pursuing a more profound study in any of the various aspects of the Chicano popular culture. The various aspects of Chicano popular culture covered in the book are: music, cinema, mass media, literature, art, celebrations, and traditions . In the introduction, the author explains the different terms that have been used to address ChÃ-canos and descendants of Mexicans living in the United States. He also gives a brief historical background of the great presence of this specific ethnic group in the Southwest of the United States. In the first chapter, Tatum gives a brief overview of different approaches to popular culture. He inrroduces a discussion about different perspectives given by diverse theorists on popular culture, such as Theodor Adorno, Louis Althusser, and Antonio Gramsci, who refer to popular culture as mass culture. They believe popular culture is a tool used by the dominant ideology to control other social classes, given that they are the ones who control both the means of production and mass communication systems, such as television, newspapers, cinema, and radio, to shape people's attitudes. On the odier hand, cultural populists see popular culture as a beneficial instrument that expresses people's interests, experiences, and values . The author allows the readers to decide which theories better go with each one of the cultural aspects covered in the book. The second chapter is focused on music, covering religious and secular music from before the 1800s to the present. The music preference among the Chicano community is very extensive. It varies from alabanzas, dédmas, corridos, mariachi music, música tejana, Rock and Roll, conjuntos, and orquestas, among other styles. In other words, it follows the different fashion styles of the mainstream as well as the Mexican and Latin Ametican tendencies in music styles. Music has developed various styles within the Chicano community, as with the singer Linda Ronstadt and other solo artists, as well as groups such as Los Lobos. The rhird chapter is dedicated to cinema. In this chapter, Tatum makes an extensive review of the representation of ChÃ-canos in both mainstream (where ChÃ-canos are mainly negatively represented ) and in Chicano cinema. Chicano movie productions discussed in this chapter are: RaÃ-ces de sangre, ¡Ahmbrista!, Seguin, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, El Norte, Break of Dawn, El mariachi, .. .And the Earth Did Not Swalhw Him, and Sekna. Four Hollywood-produced movies are also mentioned : Zoot Suit, American Me, La Bamba, and Born in East L. A. Some of these movies are based on musical pieces (The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez), and some are based on real-life stories (Sekna). Chaprer four talks about newspapers, radio , and television. These three forms of mass media, in their great majority, are managed by mainsrream culture. Most of the Spanish-speaking newspapers, radio stations, and television industry are non-Chicano owned and/or managed. Another aspect of the media is that popular culture is an instrument used by large industries to sell their products among the Chicano population . We can also observe that most of the TV shows, soap operas, and movies televised on Spanish speaking channels are not produced by ChÃ-canos, bur rather are imported from Spanishspeaking countries such as Mexico and Venezuela . Some good characteristics of rhe newspapers are that Chicano journalists and poets can publish their work and, most important, the Spanish language is maintained among the Chicano population . Chapter five discusses popular Chicano literature . As Tatum...

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