Music of the Mexico-US Border

Catalog description

The Mexico-U.S. border has historically been a site of contention. Walls and policing try to keep the two sides separate and to make the U.S. impenetrable. But sound has different boundaries and is hard to contain. Moreover, for large groups of people, the border is a way of life where the categories “Mexican” and “American” have fluid meaning. This course examines musical recordings and performances from a transnational perspective, pointing at the limits of the nation-state and of the category of “Hispanic” to understand and embrace border populations and their musics.