Article
Publication Date
January 2009
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Text and Performance Quarterly
Volume
29
Issue
2
Abstract
Los Lobos’ album The Town and The City represents a lyrical narrative and performance of journey. The album’s strength and appeal is that it offers a poignant commentary on journey at time when the odyssey undertaken by immigrants to the United States are often demonized, misunderstood, or purposefully manipulated for political benefit. I argue in this essay that the Los Lobos album illustrates and complicates the performance of Chicana/o identity, mestizaje, and hybridity through the metaphor of journey. This metaphorical journey is represented as both a process and event that establishes a sense of connectivity for audiences.
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons