Cultural memory and the Mexican diaspora in the United States: The role of the corridos about immigration and the shared aesthetics in their performance by conjuntos nortenos

The purpose of the present study is to explore the role that corridos about migration sung by conjuntos nortenos , play in shaping the cultural identity of part of the Mexican diaspora living in the United States. In particular, this study attempted to explore the shared aesthetics, social roles, values and construction of cultural narratives that are embodied in corridos about migration as well as in the experiences of listening, dancing and performing corridos performed by conjuntos nortenos.;The framework used to analyze the role of corridos in the Mexican diaspora in the United States was a critical perspective. The research in cultural studies, post-colonial theory, Chicano studies, and cultural performance provided a multi-layered theoretical framework through which the role of the corridos played by conjuntos nortenos was analyzed.;The present study examined cultural expressions that Mexican migrants maintain, create and perform in the United States by gathering data through: (1) personal interviews with radio executives, recording producers, musicians, singers, and frequent dancers and listeners of corridos in Chihuahua City; Satevo, Chihuahua; Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua; El Paso, Texas; Dumas, Texas; and, Albuquerque, New Mexico; (2) focus groups interviews at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Judrez, Chihuahua; Chihuahua City; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Dumas, Texas; (3) participant observation in communities where there is a strong migrant population, such as Chihuahua City, and some of its neighboring towns; Dumas, Texas; and in the Border cities of Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua; and El Paso, Texas; and (4) narrative analyses of 15 contemporaneous corridos about immigration sung by conjuntos nortenos that were selected by the participants in the present study.;The present study has two main findings of the present study. First, the present study found a high level of congruence between the personal life experiences of Mexican migrants in the United States and, the content of the corridos about immigration and organizing of communities for the performance of corridos. Second, the part of the Mexican diaspora community that consume corridos and norteno music exercise a great control and autonomy over the content of the corridos, the manner of their dissemination, the place where the corridos are played, and the performative act of the corrido.;The factors that contributed to these findings include: (1) a strong relationship between the content of the corridos about immigration, the most salient characteristics of migrant personal experiences and the performance of the corrido; (2) frequent contacts of Mexican migrants with their families in Mexico; (3) the cultural expression of self-definition and self-representation of the corridos about immigration; (4) a high degree of autonomy in the content of the corridos , the organization of dances and the performance of dances with conjunto norteno in relation to the hegemonic forces outside the Mexican migrant community; (5) transnational interactions and cross-fertilization among migrants and cultural actors involved in the performance of corridos and conjuntos nortenos; and (6) hybridity manifested in the everyday life experiences and changes of the migrants and portrayed in the corridos, the musical genres to which migrants listen and dance.