Mariachi and Rancheras in Mexico and El Norte: 100 Years of Mexican Tradition; Past, Present and Future

Abstract

For over a century, traditional Mariachi music has been a source of “Méxicanismo y Orgullo” (Mexican national pride and identity) for the Méxicano. Like the migrating Mexican, Mariachi music has made the transnational journey to “El Norte” and they have become culturally inseparable from one another, both in México and the United States. In this thesis project, I will examine the northward migration of the Mexican along with Mariachi music, as themes expressing national and cultural identity and discuss Mariachi and the Canción Ranchera in its historical context, its present-day popularity and its future direction. In addition, I will discuss the influence of cultural practices and traditions on mariachi as they navigate across social, political and physical “fronteras,” including the struggles of the female “mariachera” in “El Norte.”