Blog # 4: Se Arma la Bola (La Revolucion)

Blog # 4: Se Arma la Bola (La Revolucion)

“Cinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno. . . ¡Feliz año nuevo!”  Standing shoulder to shoulder around a small table heaped with “comidas tradicionales de Oaxaca”, I counted down the seconds until the New Year with “mi familia Oaxaqueña”.  When the clock struck midnight, the family erupted in cheers, and we ushered in 2009 with tortillas and rice, jalapeño salsa and guacamole.  We talked and enjoyed the meal, salsa and cumbia music playing quietly in the background.  As the evening wore on, the family began to dance across the lighted patio and the music became the focus of the gathering.   Speaking over the traditional Mexican music, members of the family asked me about American songs, displaying a great interest in the music of the 1970s and especially in the songs of Simon and Garfunkel. 

On this warm evening, as the family gathered to welcome the New Year, music brought the family together.  Traditional Mexican ballads mixed with modern Mexican “pop” music to bring together the old and the young at this family celebration.  While the young people favored the modern selections and their grandparents seemed to prefer the traditional songs, they danced together to both genres.  This mix of music demonstrates the delicate balance of preservation of heritage and desire for modernity that has existed for much of Mexican history.   

            As the “Paz Porfiriana” came to a close, Mexico stood on the brink of revolution.  With the start of the Revolution in 1910, people faced a crisis of national identity.  The Revolution, a period of great social, political and economic turmoil, helped Mexicans to define themselves in terms of their society, as well as in terms of the international community.  In every culture, music and lyrics have been used for generations to preserve a “national memory” of important events.  In Mexico, traditional “corridos” helped to create an oral record of historical events and popular national figures.  Songs like “La Cucaracha”, while catchy and enjoyable, also provided an important vehicle for political commentary.  While many members of society remained uneducated and disconnected from national events, corridos made political and social issues accessible to all people. 

            On New Year’s Eve, “nietos” and their “abuelos” sang along to modern “pop” music as well as traditional Mexican songs.  This notion of the convergence of past and present fueled much of the Mexican Revolution.  The Revolution was a conflict between modernity and heritage, isolationism and internationalism.  In his article, The Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920, John Mason Hart addresses this struggle in his discussion of two leading revolutionary movements.  He writes, “The Villistas and Zapatistas stepped toward the modern future with one foot while trying to keep the other foot in touch with the past tradition” (465).  The Revolution forced the Mexican society to balance precariously between the customs of the past and the promise of the present.  The lyrics of “La Cucaracha” proclaim, “La cucaracha, la cucaracha, no se puede caminar”.  The words describe the plight of a cockroach that is unable to walk without the aid of drugs.  During the Revolution, soldiers struggled with physical and emotional challenges and often used drugs to dull the unbearable pain.  This song, while seemingly simple and jolly, actually describes the difficult lives of soldiers during this period of conflict. 

            Hart writes that “the Mexican Revolution was part of a global economic and political crisis but followed its own unique path” (464).  While the Revolution is often referred to as a single Revolution, it is perhaps more accurate to refer to this period of struggle as a series of social, political and economic conflicts.  Amid international and domestic crises, Mexico struggled to define a national identity.  In Mexico, the corrido introduced music as a vehicle for political discussion.  Today, artists have rewritten original corridos or have created entirely new musical pieces to discuss modern political issues.  “Viva, Obama!”, a modern corrido supporting American President-Elect Barack Obama, provides commentary on Obama’s policies and uses references to Mexican heritage to encourage support for the candidate.

            Mexico is a country built on traditions of the past. History and culture are important, yet the early 20^th century initiated a struggle between modernity and heritage.  The corridos of the 1920s reflected the struggles of Mexicans during the Revolution and helped to define the “modern Mexican”.  As I celebrated the arrival of the year 2009 with my host family, I saw the balance of modern and cultural traditions in the evening’s musical selections.  Eighty nine years after the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution, musical traditions of the past met customs of the present in this Mexican family’s New Year’s celebration.

Sarah Harris