Abstract

Américo Paredes's contributions to folklore featured the recognition of power relations in his methodology and the analysis of the construction of symbolic forms for political purposes, all of this well in advance of the introduction of these concepts into academic discourse. Specifically, he analyzed the North American cowboy and the shaping of that figure into a hero in response to "a craving for a strong national identity." Building on that argument, I examine a struggle between businessmen and rodeo cowboys over the production of professional rodeo performances, a struggle that echoed similar power relations between large capital and workers in the United States at that time (the 1920s and 1930s). The cowboy contestation took the form of strikes against specific rodeos. Using data from Hoofs and Horns (a publication of the period), the paper explores this national performance conflict as a difference in perception over the meaning of the cowboy, whether a sign available for capital to exploit or a performer deserving a living wage in return for his performance.

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