Global Mexican cultural productions /

This collection grew out of a Trinity College seminar in which faculty, students, and guests engaged in discussions, presentations, and performances examining cultural productions of the transnational Mexican community. New forms of expression are occurring on both sides of the border that question traditional practices and transgress what is considered authentic. The essays explore the existence of a cultural Mexico created by the presence of Mexicans, not defined by political borders. In the book's introduction, Blanco-Cano and Urquijo-Ruiz (both, Trinity Univ.) offer a useful historical overview of Mexican emigration (and territorial annexation) and a theoretical framework for transnationalism. The 16 essays, interviews, and poems include four pieces by students. Of particular interest is Laura Gutierrez's essay, which looks at rigid postrevolutionary social realism, Chicano mural artists of the 1960s-70s, and public performance art. Also noteworthy is Maria Socorro Tabuenca Cordoba's examination of three films based on the femicide of Ciudad Juarez. There are also essays on border-crossing academics, cultural celebrations in Laredo, Texas, and music and visual culture plus interviews with Yolanda Cruz and Rosina Conde. The editors maintain that artists working outside of the Mexican nation have not been as bound by tradition, which has allowed a transgressive artistic freedom. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. A. A. Edwards Mercyhurst College