Jake Wilson
1/7/04
El Narcotraficante
I read the Book El Narcotraficante Narcocorridos & The Construction of A Cultural Persona On The U.S.-Mexico Border by Mark Cameron Edberg. This book is an attempt by Edberg to teach us about corridos and more specifically narcocorridos. Not only does this book show us the Narcocorrido and where it came from, but it also speaks about how these corridos have influenced people mainly along the U.S-Mexican border region. Corridos are traditional songs which for the most part are preformed by Norteno bands. In essence these are similar to the ballads of America in that they tell a story about for the most part rebellious heroes. Many of these stories involve bravery and rising up against injustice while at the same time dealing with death (as this is common to happen with rebellious heroes). Overall the book is a fairly difficult read not because the information is interesting but because he uses a very sophisticated diction (mainly in attempts to talk about society), which at times take a while to read through. This is a good book if one is interested in songs about the narcotrafficking life, where they came from, where they are now, and what impact they have on Hispanic society.
The Prologue is rather simple. It seeks only to show exactly where the author went in his study of the narcocorridos. The main places he studies are Texas, more specifically the El Paso-Juarez region, and Tijuana just across from San Diego. He goes into good detail describing Juarez and the poverty he sees there as well as the general landscape of the area. He then talks about Tijuana and some of the incredible wealth he sees thanks to drug money.
The first chapter is where the author tries to discuss cultural representations and poverty. This part of the book flows very slowly and is perhaps not even very necessary to the book in general. The author goes into too much detail trying to define poverty, the social classes, and social stratification in general.
The next chapter is a very interesting one. It first of all tells exactly where most of his research takes place (those places being Juarez and Tijuana and Los Angeles). Next the chapter dives into the history of the corrido. The corrido is a uniquely Mexican tradition which arose from stories of people who had risen up bravely against the powerful, which in the beginning were the encroaching Anglo-Americans. One of the most famous people to have a corrido written about him was of course Pancho Villa. These corridos were all similar in that they were about a man, a hero even, who stood up to the powerful and fought bravely and honorably. Eventually as was inevitable they were killed usually because they were betrayed by people they knew.
In the third chapter Edberg goes into great detail about narcocorridos. Narcocorridos being stories in essence sung about drug traffickers and their lives. He begins by discussing how narcocorridos are corridos. This is due mostly to the fact that they deal with a person who fights against society and make themselves wealthy in an environment that is stricken by poverty. They as well sometimes give back to the community similar to Pancho Villa and the like. Also, death is a part of the life and this is reflected in both corridos and narcocorridos. Edberg gives many examples of narcocorridos especially the ones which are similar to corridos. My favorite narcocorrido is one which discusses three animals being a parakeet (cocaine), a rooster (marijuana), and a goat (heroin). Edberg then talks about the audience and also how they interpret the music. Most of the people who listen to narcocorridos are in their youth or in the very lowest class. For the most part the people listening to them don’t go out and do the things they hear, but rather daydream about how nice it would be to have wealth and fame. For the most part the narcotraffickers are not seen as heroic, instead they are seen as people with lots of bravery who forge a life out of complete poverty and thus they are somewhat admired.
In the final chapter Edberg discusses narcocorridos and the actual narcotrafficker himself. While some of the narcocorridos are truly written about actual narcotraffickers many are simply made up. As well the narcocorrido has begun to be shaped by mass media and thus has diverged away from its forerunner the corrido itself.
If you are looking for an interesting read about music in the border region then this book is a good idea. Or in a way if you want to hear Mexican gangsta rap, since that sort of is what narcocorridos are or at least are becoming, and the influence it has on this border society then one would find this book very intriguing.