Bibliography
Borderlands
Introductory Information:This Smithsonian website explores the cultures that sprout up on and around borders of State, nation, and ethnicity: "What is it about a border that triggers these and other cultural forms, such as souvenirs, duty-free liquors, retaining walls made of automobile tires, and maquiladora assembly plants? Is the border a particular kind of region or social environment? If so, does the border tend to produce a particular kind of culture? And what is the relationship between this environment and its culture?"
The Tex-Mex Border & Border Radio:A Shared Space - Folklife in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands, by James S. Griffith (©1995 Utah State University Press).
"Where it divides Arizona and Sonora, the international boundary between Mexico and the United States is both a political reality, literally expressed by a fence, and, to a considerable degree, a cultural illusion. Mexican, Anglo, and Native American cultures straddle that fence... Griffith examines many of the distinctive folk expressions of this varied cultural region..." - USU Press.James Griffith is a folk historian living in Arizona, formerly of the University of Arizona Library's Southwest Folklore Center. He has written and created numerous exhibits, books and websites on Southern Arizona folk arts.
With His Pistol in His Hand, by Américo Paredes (©1958 University of Texas Press).
This book tells the true story of the early 20th century border outlaw Gregorio Cortez. It made the Mexican-American scholar Paredes a hero to a generation of Mexican-American kids. Paredes is memorialized in Tish Hinjosa's modern song "Con Su Pluma in Su Mano" ("With His Pen in His Hand")."Tijuana Rocks," by Melissa Sattley, in Utne Reader pp. 15-16 (March-April 2001 reprinted from The Austin Chronicle [Nov. 3, 2000]).
This article explores how Nortec music has sparked a new "borderland aesthetic" on the Mexican-American border of the 21st century.Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns and Guerillas, by Elijah Wald (©2001 Rayo [HarperCollins]). This book was a great resource for information about today's living corrido culture in Mexico and the US and along the Tex/Mex border. It reads like a travel journal, and paints a rich cultural picture. From Elijah Wald's website: "Narcocorrido is a series of visits with corridistas, from the most popular narco writers to rural singers documenting current events in their communities. It was researched over roughly a year, traveling all over Mexico and the southwestern US, largely by hitchhiking. I went up into the drug trafficking regions, searched out the foremost composers in their homes, and listened to every cassette the truck drivers threw on their tape decks."
Border Radio - Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics, and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves, by Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford (Revised Edition ©2002 University of Texas Press).
From the University of Texas Press website: "This book traces the eventful history of border radio from its founding in the 1930s by "goat-gland doctor" J.R. Brinkley to the glory days of Wolfman Jack in the 1960s. Along the way, it shows how border broadcasters pioneered direct sales advertising, helped prove the power of electronic media as a political tool, aided in spreading the popularity of country music, rhythm and blues, and rock, and laid the foundations for today's electronic church..."See an excerpt from the book at the University of Texas Press' website.
For more on Border Radio, try this history of the border radio station XERF.
Storytellers:The King of Elfland's Daughter, by Lord Dunsany (©1924, renewed 1951 Lord Dunsany, published in 1999 by Del Rey).
A classic of 20th century fantasy: a king's son tries to find the way back and forth on the border between Elfland and his father's world.Stardust, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, illust (©1998 Avon Books).
An illustrated novel by the creator of the "Sandman" series, about a town uneasily perched on the border between Elfland and The Fields We Know...Written in partial homage to the Dunsany title above.The Essential Bordertown: A Traveller's Guide to the Edge of Faerie, edited by Terri Windling and Delia Sherman (©1998 Tor Books).
The seventh book in Windling's Borderland series, this is a collection of stories about modern kids on the border between childhood and adulthood, who run away to a city that has grown up on the border between Elfland and our world. From a review by Robert Francis: "The premise of this series is that one day, in the not too distant future, the Realm of Faerie suddenly intrudes into our world next to a modern city. Although most of the Realm remains protected from curious humans by the Border, which supposedly no human can cross, travelers from Faerie enter our world with relative ease." Authors include Charles de Lint, Patricia McKillip, Steven Brust, Midori Snyder, Caroline Stevermer and Ellen Kushner.More information is available at the Bordertown section of Terri Windling's Endicott Studio website.
Coming of Age and Liminality:"The metaphors and rituals of place and time - an introduction to liminality, or, Why Christopher Robin wouldn't walk on the cracks: this is a wonderful article explaining the concept of liminality.
This site provides a good description of Masai boys' initiation ceremonies, and connects to excellent descriptions of "Coming of Age" in various other cultures!
The article "Embracing the Crone: a rite of passage" looks into a ritual for menopausal women as they enter a new phase of their lives.
Shamans Crossing:Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, by Maya Deren (1953).
Shaman, Jhankri & Nele: Music Healers of Indigenous Cultures, by Pat Moffitt Cook (©1997 Ellipsis Arts).
This boxed CD and companion book set explores the use of music in traditional healing in cultures around the world. The music is beautiful, and the companion book provides rich context.A wonderful introductory site to the Cuban religion Santeria - a crossbreed of Catholicism and Yoruban faiths unique to Cuba. There are many links on this page that will take you to other good references.
Heinz Insu Fenkl's essay "Dancing on Knives: An Introduction to the Politics of Sexuality and Gender in Korean Shamanism."
Robert Johnson:Some background and exposition on Robert Johnson's music and what it really means to "sell one's soul to the Devil."
A quick rundown of Robert Johnson's life story, and its place in American folklore.
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