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Preface
- Michigan State University Press
- Chapter
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n xv Preface In this book, I use phenomenology and ethnomethodology to take a closer look at elements of Hispano(a) life in northern New Mexico—everyday things that most people do not pay attention to as they go about their lives. In this exploration, I use ideas from a variety of sources, including newspaper obituaries, real events, the roles people play, their attitudes, belief systems, dichos (folk sayings), folklore, popular songs, poetry, film, opera, religious rituals, tombstones, prayer, psychotherapy, and scholarly work. The book is about northern New Mexicans, specifically Hispanos, among whom I have lived my whole life. It is an attempt to analyze the mundane things that have interested me over a thirty-year period. It does not cover everything about Hispanos. Such a task is far too big. In recent years there has been talk of a Nuevomejicano experience in New Mexico. I do not believe that a pure Nuevomejicano culture exists per se, but that Hispanos are influenced by the broader U.S. society and, to a lesser extent, by Mexican culture. Despite these influences the definitive aspects of an Hispano(a) culture can be observed in people’s daily lives. It is sometimes seen and reflected in our folkways (Montaño 2001), music (Sagel 1990b), use of the Spanish language (Cobos 2003), or oral culture (Espinosa 1913, 1914, 1926; Rael 1977). Some of these forms are still extant, to a greater or lesser xvi n Preface extent. A exciting literature is developing, for example, the work of Montaño (2001), Gonzales (2007), and other writers, artists, and poets. The book is not intended to be a study of terms and practices that may not be in vogue anymore. However, I have found it useful to use older terms and to expand an inquiry about these terms in order to examine Hispano(a) life. Such terms may refer to phenomena that affect all levels of society and can be found in other cultures and places. For example, few Hispanos(as) know the meaning of the term mancornadora, which is used in many Mexican songs, yet are familiar with such old songs as “Rosita Alvirez,” “El 24 de junio,” or “La güera Chavela” in which a social context is provided for the term. These songs refer to a dance where a woman dances with a stranger; the old boyfriend walks in, and a killing ensues. As a person who has worked in the field of mental health and domestic violence, this kind of thing has interested me for many years. I name the event and then attempt a close examination of the topic. I make use of whatever is at my disposal for the analysis. As an example, a killing ensued in a northern New Mexico community when a jilted boyfriend waited until the former girlfriend left the Saturday night dance before committing murder (“Affidavits Filed” 2005, 4). Is this the Rosita Alvirez myth being played out? My purpose is to inquire about events, situations, attitudes, and values; to wonder about them; and to suspend our understanding, at least until one can reconsider what we know about these daily events, and then come to a new understanding of ourselves. The phenomenological method asks us to suspend what we think we know about a social event and then to inquire about it. In addition, is it important to consider the cultural historical roots and its significance, and to place the behavior in a structure of universalized meaning. The Culture of Words Language is touted as the memory of a culture. Luis Rosales of the Royal Academy of Spain says in part: “Las palabras nos unen más que lo que pensamos. Son la memoria que se ha ido entretejiendo año tras año entre los vivos y los muertos. La lengua es la memoria total de sus habitantes” (Words unite us more than we think. Language is thus a memory that intertwines year after year both the living and dead. Language is the total memory of its inhabitants) (quoted in Mondragón and Roybal 1994, 7; my translation). If a memory can be resurrected, as Antonio Medina (1983) of Mora, New Mexico, said, then “Our culture is not lost if we still have words for it. We can use words to resurrect the culture.” It is indeed a living memory. Some of us do not “hunger for memory” if we still have our words to depict experience. It...