British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Ruth Hellier
Reviewed work(s):
Lydia Mendoza's Life in Music/La historia de Lydia Mendoza. Norteo Tejano Legacies by
Lydia Mendoza
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 10, No. 2 (2001), pp. 126-128
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060667
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126 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001 126 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
than a
Hong Kong
or mainland Chinese
composer?
What
exactly
constitutes the
"Chineseness" of
contemporary
Chinese
music? Mittler
keeps coming
back to
these
questions
in different terms and
shifting perspectives.
Whether the
answers she formulates are
always right
-
in so far as one could ever
produce objec-
tive or infallible statements in this realm
-
and whether
every
minor detail in the
book is correct or not is
hardly
relevant.
In essence this book
provides
a rich,
detailed and reliable
impression
of how,
and in what kind of intellectual climate,
twentieth-century
musical
composition
took
shape
in China. Mittler is
especially
good
on the mainland
composers,
and she
very
much enhances the value of the book
by incorporating
such a marvelous choice
of musical
examples.
While
reading
about
her
findings
we
gradually begin
to see a
picture
of Chinese artists who
struggle
with their
chequered past
and with con-
tinuing
tensions between Eastern and
Western musical
expression.
At the same
time we leam a lot about traditional cul-
ture in China, and about the attitudes of
Chinese authorities and their
approaches
to new and
potentially "dangerous"
artis-
tic works. As a first book on a
highly
complex topic
this is
very rewarding
and
stimulating
-
and a most
impressive
-
achievement.
FRANK KOUWENHOVEN
Co-editor, CHIME,
Journal
of
the
European foundation for
Chinese Music Research
chime@wxs.nl
http.://home.
wxs. nl/-chime
than a
Hong Kong
or mainland Chinese
composer?
What
exactly
constitutes the
"Chineseness" of
contemporary
Chinese
music? Mittler
keeps coming
back to
these
questions
in different terms and
shifting perspectives.
Whether the
answers she formulates are
always right
-
in so far as one could ever
produce objec-
tive or infallible statements in this realm
-
and whether
every
minor detail in the
book is correct or not is
hardly
relevant.
In essence this book
provides
a rich,
detailed and reliable
impression
of how,
and in what kind of intellectual climate,
twentieth-century
musical
composition
took
shape
in China. Mittler is
especially
good
on the mainland
composers,
and she
very
much enhances the value of the book
by incorporating
such a marvelous choice
of musical
examples.
While
reading
about
her
findings
we
gradually begin
to see a
picture
of Chinese artists who
struggle
with their
chequered past
and with con-
tinuing
tensions between Eastern and
Western musical
expression.
At the same
time we leam a lot about traditional cul-
ture in China, and about the attitudes of
Chinese authorities and their
approaches
to new and
potentially "dangerous"
artis-
tic works. As a first book on a
highly
complex topic
this is
very rewarding
and
stimulating
-
and a most
impressive
-
achievement.
FRANK KOUWENHOVEN
Co-editor, CHIME,
Journal
of
the
European foundation for
Chinese Music Research
chime@wxs.nl
http.://home.
wxs. nl/-chime
LYDIA MENDOZA
Lydia Mendoza's
life
in music/La historia de
Lydia
Mendoza. Norteio
Tejano
Legacies.
Yolanda
Broyles-Gonzalez,
trans.
American
Musicspheres.
New York:
LYDIA MENDOZA
Lydia Mendoza's
life
in music/La historia de
Lydia
Mendoza. Norteio
Tejano
Legacies.
Yolanda
Broyles-Gonzalez,
trans.
American
Musicspheres.
New York:
Oxford
University Press, 2001. xvi
+
235pp., figures,
b&w
plates,
notes, appendix,
index. ISBN 0-19-
512706-4 (hb. ?22.00).
With CD.
"Lydia
Mendoza's
unique performance
and
recording
career
spans
three-fourths
of the twentieth
century,
from her earli-
est
recordings
in the 1920s to the last
in the 1980s" (181).
As a
singer
who
accompanied
herself on the
12-string
guitar
or was backed
by
a
variety
of
ensembles, Mendoza made her mark on
the lives, hearts and minds of millions in
the USA and
throughout
the
Spanish-
speaking
Americas. Now
aged
86
years,
she no
longer performs.
The book
pro-
vides
interesting glimpses
into the life
of
Lydia Mendoza, and the CD of her
performances
is
warmly
welcomed. The
book is divided into three sections:
sections 1 and 2
comprise
Mendoza's
oral life
history
transcribed and edited
from
Broyles-Gonzailez's tape
record-
ings,
first in
English
translation then in
Spanish;
section 3, entitled
"Background
analysis", gives Broyles-Gonzalez's
brief
analysis
of the
project
and of Mendoza's
life.
The aims, and some of the achieve-
ments, of the book are laudable. It aims
to
bring
a female, popular
music
singer
to
prominence
within academic
study
and
attempts
to deliver
"Lydia
Mendoza's
life
story,
as told
by
her"
(xiv).
As I shall
go
on to illustrate, however, it is also
deeply
flawed. The main
problem,
from
which the others stem, is that
although
Broyles-Gonzalez attempts
to be
"post-
colonialist" in
representation
-
Mendoza
supposedly
"tells" her life
story
in the
oral tradition of the
great
women elders
native to the Americas and the author
states numerous times that this is
Mendoza's book rather than a book
about her
-
the author frames this "life
narrative" with her own
acknowledge-
ments and
analytical essay.
Oxford
University Press, 2001. xvi
+
235pp., figures,
b&w
plates,
notes, appendix,
index. ISBN 0-19-
512706-4 (hb. ?22.00).
With CD.
"Lydia
Mendoza's
unique performance
and
recording
career
spans
three-fourths
of the twentieth
century,
from her earli-
est
recordings
in the 1920s to the last
in the 1980s" (181).
As a
singer
who
accompanied
herself on the
12-string
guitar
or was backed
by
a
variety
of
ensembles, Mendoza made her mark on
the lives, hearts and minds of millions in
the USA and
throughout
the
Spanish-
speaking
Americas. Now
aged
86
years,
she no
longer performs.
The book
pro-
vides
interesting glimpses
into the life
of
Lydia Mendoza, and the CD of her
performances
is
warmly
welcomed. The
book is divided into three sections:
sections 1 and 2
comprise
Mendoza's
oral life
history
transcribed and edited
from
Broyles-Gonzailez's tape
record-
ings,
first in
English
translation then in
Spanish;
section 3, entitled
"Background
analysis", gives Broyles-Gonzalez's
brief
analysis
of the
project
and of Mendoza's
life.
The aims, and some of the achieve-
ments, of the book are laudable. It aims
to
bring
a female, popular
music
singer
to
prominence
within academic
study
and
attempts
to deliver
"Lydia
Mendoza's
life
story,
as told
by
her"
(xiv).
As I shall
go
on to illustrate, however, it is also
deeply
flawed. The main
problem,
from
which the others stem, is that
although
Broyles-Gonzalez attempts
to be
"post-
colonialist" in
representation
-
Mendoza
supposedly
"tells" her life
story
in the
oral tradition of the
great
women elders
native to the Americas and the author
states numerous times that this is
Mendoza's book rather than a book
about her
-
the author frames this "life
narrative" with her own
acknowledge-
ments and
analytical essay.
REVIEWS 127
Similarly, although
the book is
described as a
bilingual publication
(English/Spanish),
the
only
section in
Spanish
is Mendoza's account. Inclusion
of the account in the
original language
is
to be
applauded
as it
gives
a feel for the
rhythm
of Mendoza's own words, pro-
vides a
template against
which to
compare
the translation and
perhaps pro-
vides a move towards
questioning
the
usual use of
English
as the
hegemonic
means of communication in US academic
publications. Problems, however, begin
to
emerge. First, the footnotes that
accompany
Mendoza's account are
inconsistent in the two versions. In
English, they provide background
infor-
mation on
key concepts
connected with
the US-Mexican and Mexican
population
and music; in
Spanish,
this information is
not included, implying
that this section is
aimed at a US-Mexican
readership.
Unless such readers are
bilingual, they
will be unable to
partake
of the rest of the
book, including
the author's
analysis.
Second, the editor's
political
and ideo-
logical
stances become evident in certain
translations from Mendoza's account,
e.g. "gringos" (117)
is translated as
"Anglos" (30),
and
they
sit uncomfort-
ably alongside
Mendoza's own
apolitical
account.
Key concepts
in
Broyles-
Gonzalez'
analysis
are
"self-identity"
and
"identity-construction"
as she
argues
that
Mendoza
played
a vital role in the collec-
tive
identity-formation
of thousands, if
not millions, of
working-class
US-
Mexicans. Yet from the
analysis
we learn
more about the author's
identity
than that
of Mendoza. Terms such as Chicana,
tejana, raza, "indigenous"
and mexicana
are all used to label Mendoza and
partic-
ular
groups
of
people
and identities.
Broyles-Gonzalez
does not
attempt
to
deconstruct or even
question
such labels
and identities. In her own narrative
Mendoza refers to herself as "Mexican"
(she
was born in the USA, to
parents
who
were born and lived in Mexico, and
spent
the first few
years
of her life in both
countries, finally settling
in the USA
after 1927).
Yet the author labels
Mendoza as raza, explaining:
"I like
using raza because it is a transnational
term that blurs national affiliations and
political
borders transcended
by
culture"
(217).
The
problem
is that this term is at
the same time used
inclusively ("raza
humana
-
human
beings" (217))
and
exclusively, referring
to US-Mexicans,
ultimately rendering
it
meaningless.
In Mendoza's account we catch
glimpses
of
key figures
and moments in
her life from childhood
through
to the
1950s. The
style
is both informal and
informative.
Any
reconstruction of his-
tory
from the
present
is
partial,
and
Mendoza has
obviously
chosen moments
that are
important
to her, which in itself
is
interesting.
For
any
Mendoza fan wish-
ing
to know more of her life, or for a
reader new to Mendoza, this account will
need to be
augmented by
a more tradi-
tional-style biography.
The author combines
gushing
adula-
tion for Mendoza with a naive, romantic
folkloric
viewpoint.
She seems unaware
that the features she
points
to in Mendoza
as essential to a "raza working-class"
identity
were those used in folkloric
nationalization
processes
in Mexico in
the 1920s and 1930s, as
part
of the indi-
genismo-mestizaje movements, that were
specifically
used to
unify
the
disparate
and diverse
peoples
of the Mexican
nation. Such features include Mendoza's
natural, untrained and "rural
qualities
of
voice and
song" (195);
her link with a
pre-conquest past (by
virtue of
being
Mexican); and her use of costumes of the
"highly symbolic
...
eagle
and
serpent
...
marking
the
enduring presence
of
indige-
nous Mexican culture" (187). (This
symbol
is the official Mexican national
emblem, signifying
the
very power
and
authority
of a nation-state that
Broyles-
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETH N OM U S I CO LOGY VOL.10/ii 2001 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETH N OM U S I CO LOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
Gonzailez finds so abhorrent, and it has
been
part
of colonial and
nation-building
processes
for
centuries.)
According
to
Broyles-Gonzalez,
the
aim of the book is to use Mendoza's
narrative "to
probe
and reveal
processes
and
strategies
of
self-empowerment
for
women..."
(201). Ironically,
Mendoza's
voice and narrative are
ultimately
dis-
empowered by
the
editing, explanation
and
analysis
of Mendoza's own account.
Feedback from Mendoza on these
interpretations
would have redressed
the balance. Does Mendoza
accept
the
Broyles-Gonzailez's interpretation
of her
success? Does she
classify
herself as a
"raza woman"?
Broyles-Gonzailez
notes: "Since time
immemorial, native women have
per-
formed their histories in
ways
inaudible
to the colonial
imaginary
of
print
cul-
ture"
(200).
She
frequently
reminds us
that we are
"listening"
to Mendoza "tell"
her
story.
This book, then, is an
attempt
to avoid
previous colonial-style appropriations
and
re-presentations
of fieldwork data.
But it raises the
question
of whether an
academic book
published by
an academic
press
can ever achieve this. A more inno-
vative
approach might
have been to
produce
an audio or video
recording
that
stood alone
(although
even these would
have to
undergo
an
equally problematical
editing process),
with the
accompanying
essay published separately.
In its
present
form this book
-
although attempting
to
tackle some of the
problems
-
is not the
"milestone in the
writing
of music his-
tory" (xiv)
that
Broyles-Gonzailez
would
have us believe.
RUTH HELLIER
University of
Warwick
ruthhellier@ hotmail. com
Gonzailez finds so abhorrent, and it has
been
part
of colonial and
nation-building
processes
for
centuries.)
According
to
Broyles-Gonzalez,
the
aim of the book is to use Mendoza's
narrative "to
probe
and reveal
processes
and
strategies
of
self-empowerment
for
women..."
(201). Ironically,
Mendoza's
voice and narrative are
ultimately
dis-
empowered by
the
editing, explanation
and
analysis
of Mendoza's own account.
Feedback from Mendoza on these
interpretations
would have redressed
the balance. Does Mendoza
accept
the
Broyles-Gonzailez's interpretation
of her
success? Does she
classify
herself as a
"raza woman"?
Broyles-Gonzailez
notes: "Since time
immemorial, native women have
per-
formed their histories in
ways
inaudible
to the colonial
imaginary
of
print
cul-
ture"
(200).
She
frequently
reminds us
that we are
"listening"
to Mendoza "tell"
her
story.
This book, then, is an
attempt
to avoid
previous colonial-style appropriations
and
re-presentations
of fieldwork data.
But it raises the
question
of whether an
academic book
published by
an academic
press
can ever achieve this. A more inno-
vative
approach might
have been to
produce
an audio or video
recording
that
stood alone
(although
even these would
have to
undergo
an
equally problematical
editing process),
with the
accompanying
essay published separately.
In its
present
form this book
-
although attempting
to
tackle some of the
problems
-
is not the
"milestone in the
writing
of music his-
tory" (xiv)
that
Broyles-Gonzailez
would
have us believe.
RUTH HELLIER
University of
Warwick
ruthhellier@ hotmail. com
SLAWOMIRA ZERANSKA-KOMINEK
with ARNOLD LEBEUF, The tale
of Crazy
Harman: the musician
and the
concept of
music in the
Turkmen
epic tale, Harman Ddli.
Warsaw: Academic Publications
DIALOG, 1997.
305pp.,
14
plates,
bibliography,
index. ISBN 83-
86483-57-1
pb.
The book falls into three sections: Part I
presents
the socio-cultural
background
to
the subject of the book, the
epic
narrative
Harman Dali, drawing heavily
on
Zeraniska-Kominek's fieldwork in Turk-
menistan from 1988 to 1996; Part II is a
translation of the Turkmen version of this
tale
performed
in 1937
by
the bard
Palwan
bagsy;
and Part III
provides
inter-
pretations
of it. The book in
general
was
translated from the Polish
by Jerzy
Ossowski, but assistance was
given
on
Part II
by
Ms
Malgorzata
Labqcka-
Koecherowa, so it is unclear who is
responsible
for the occasional
jarring
term: the use of those
twentieth-century
consumer items
"gabardines"
and "eider-
downs", for instance, feels
distinctly
odd
in an ancient tale. But that's a
quibble.
Such is the richness of this book that I
was
constantly
stimulated to
go
from the
cross-cultural
comparisons
made
by
the
author to connect to
my
own area of
specialism, Mongol
music.
Only
in the
last
chapter,
written
by Lebeuf, did the
comparisons
made become
wildly
incomprehensible.
The
opening chapter,
"The Ttirkmens",
reconstructs their
history, politics,
ethni-
city, society
and
religious beliefs, and
enlightened
me as to
why,
when I first
heard
performances
of Turkmen
epics
(Grund, 1989, 1995; Zeraniska-Kominek
1991),
I was struck
by
a
similarity
between the vocal tone of the
performers
and that used
by Mongol
bards and over-
tone-singers.
I now know of the historical
intertwinement between Turkmen and
SLAWOMIRA ZERANSKA-KOMINEK
with ARNOLD LEBEUF, The tale
of Crazy
Harman: the musician
and the
concept of
music in the
Turkmen
epic tale, Harman Ddli.
Warsaw: Academic Publications
DIALOG, 1997.
305pp.,
14
plates,
bibliography,
index. ISBN 83-
86483-57-1
pb.
The book falls into three sections: Part I
presents
the socio-cultural
background
to
the subject of the book, the
epic
narrative
Harman Dali, drawing heavily
on
Zeraniska-Kominek's fieldwork in Turk-
menistan from 1988 to 1996; Part II is a
translation of the Turkmen version of this
tale
performed
in 1937
by
the bard
Palwan
bagsy;
and Part III
provides
inter-
pretations
of it. The book in
general
was
translated from the Polish
by Jerzy
Ossowski, but assistance was
given
on
Part II
by
Ms
Malgorzata
Labqcka-
Koecherowa, so it is unclear who is
responsible
for the occasional
jarring
term: the use of those
twentieth-century
consumer items
"gabardines"
and "eider-
downs", for instance, feels
distinctly
odd
in an ancient tale. But that's a
quibble.
Such is the richness of this book that I
was
constantly
stimulated to
go
from the
cross-cultural
comparisons
made
by
the
author to connect to
my
own area of
specialism, Mongol
music.
Only
in the
last
chapter,
written
by Lebeuf, did the
comparisons
made become
wildly
incomprehensible.
The
opening chapter,
"The Ttirkmens",
reconstructs their
history, politics,
ethni-
city, society
and
religious beliefs, and
enlightened
me as to
why,
when I first
heard
performances
of Turkmen
epics
(Grund, 1989, 1995; Zeraniska-Kominek
1991),
I was struck
by
a
similarity
between the vocal tone of the
performers
and that used
by Mongol
bards and over-
tone-singers.
I now know of the historical
intertwinement between Turkmen and
128 128