This book presents readers with scholarship on public celebrations and popular culture throughout Mexican history. Leading scholars from the Americas and Great Britain discuss aspects of Mexico's popular culture from the seventeenth century to the present. The vast range of Mexican expression is examined, including Corpus Christi celebrations, New Spain, stone murals, and folk theater. Filling a need that becomes ever more pressing, this volume provides fresh insights.

Edited by William H. Beezley; Cheryl E. Martin and William E. French

Chapter 1 Introduction: Constructing Consent, Inciting Conflict Chapter 2 Giants and Gypsies: Corpus Christi in Colonial Mexico City Chapter 3 Lewd Songs and Dances from the Streets of Eighteenth-Century New Spain Chapter 4 The Working Poor and the Eighteenth-Century Colonial State: Gender, Public Order, and Work Discipline Chapter 5 A World of Images: Cult, Ritual, and Society in Colonial Mexico City Chapter 6 Public Celebrations, Popular Culture, and labor Discipline in Eighteenth-Century Chihuahua Chapter 7 Policia y Buen Gobierno: Municipal Efforts to Regulate Public Behavior, 1821-1857 Chapter 8 Streetwise History: The Paseo de la Reforma and the Porfirian State, 1876-1910 Chapter 9 Proletarians, Politicos, and Patriarchs: The Use and Abuse of Cultural Customs in the Early Industrialization of Mexico City, 1880-1910 Chapter 10 The Porfirian Smart Set Anticipates Thorstein Veblen in Guadalajara Chapter 11 Progreso Forzado: Workers and the Inculcation of the Capitalist Work Ethic in the Parral Mining District Chapter 12 The Construction of the Patriotic Festival in Tecamachalco, Puebla, 1900-1946 Chapter 13 Popular Reactions to the Educational Reforms of Cardenismo Chapter 14 Burning Saints, Molding Minds: Iconoclasm, Civic Ritual, and the Failed Cultural Revolution Chapter 15 Misiones Culturales, Teatro Conasupo, and Teatro Comunidad: the Evolution of Rural Theater Chapter 16 The Ceremonial and Political Roles of Village Bands, 1846-1974 Chapter 17 Conclusion: The State as Vampire-Hegemonic Projects, Public Ritual, and Popular Culture in Mexico, 1600-1990