Folklore in Mexican American Society
In this talk, Richard Goodman provides a brief overview of Mexican-American folklore. He defines folklore as the common values and unofficial heritage of a people.
Folklore can be stories, legends, proverbs, superstitions and songs. Goodman discusses these subgenres and provides brief examples. Stories usually convey moral principles, but they might also be for pure entertainment. Legends relate tales of good and bad men, or tragic characters like La Llorona, the woman who weeps nightly for her lost children. Proverbs or dichos are a form of folk poetry that offers cultural wisdom and advice. Superstitions are beliefs that can be traced to ancient Spain or old Mexico, and offer suggestions for avoiding harm. When they do fall ill with diseases of physical or spiritual nature, Mexican Americans often turn to curanderos, or folk curers. Corridos—or ballads—are another form of folklore that retells historical episodes from the Mexican American point of view.
KEYWORDS
Allá en el rancho grandeAmerico Paredes
Anglo hostility
Bilingual culture
Border
Brujas
Campesinos
Chihuahua
Corrido
Corridos
Cotula
Curanderos
Curing
Dichos
Evil eye
Fear
Fermina Guerra
Folk Cures
Folk diseases
Folklore
Folklore
Ghost Stories
Goliad
Gregorio Cortez
Horses
Illness
Josefina Negli
Juanita Stroud Phillips
La Grulla
La Llorona
Laredo
Laura Leann Parker
Legend
Leisure
Literature
Los Bandidos de Norias
Los Fresnos
Mal de Ojo
Mare
Masculinity
Medical Knowledge
Mexican American Authors
middle class
Migration
Miriam Webb Hiester
Music
Myth
Popular history
Proverbs
Rangers
Raymond Paredes
Rebecca W. Smith
Sheriff
Social history
South Texas
Superstitions
Susto
Texas Outlook
Trickery
Trickster
Witchcraft
With His Pistol in His Hand