Abstract

The study of Chicana/o music leads to many issues that reflect how Mexican Americans in the United States have expressed themselves through a culture that has consistently “bordered” the concept of the “border” itself. Their forms of music are diverse, complex, and, in many instances, expressions of conflict. This chapter touches on a variety of topics, ranging from the origins and development of Chicana/o forms or styles and their transformations to observations through sociocultural analyses of issues, such as marginality, identity, intercultural conflict and aesthetics, reinterpretation, postnationalism, and mestizaje, the mixing of race and culture. In assessing Chicana/o musical expression, I also critique various contexts representing the music industry, major representative artists, the African diaspora, and globalization.