What is a Corrido?

Thematic Representation and Narrative Discourse

Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. 18 (1999).

Guillermo E. Hernández University of California, Los Angeles

Introduction: Antecedents in the Study of the Genre

Corridos have been sung for almost two hundred years, yet the genre has tended to remain distant or misunderstood to outsiders of this important ballad tradition of Mexico and the United States. One reason for this situation has been the apparent obscurity of the texts, which are difficult to interpret due to their local references and conventions. As a result, corridos have flourished in relative isolation, preserving the views of marginal communities; that is, corridos convey unofficial versions of history. Indeed, composed, transmitted, and consumed by rural and urban working classes people distant from circles of power and prestige the genre expresses viewpoints that often contradict or stand in direct opposition to dominant perspectives.

An important factor in the evolution of the corrido has been its shift from oral transmission to commercial consumption via broadsides and recordings.1 Despite this substantial transformation from folklore to popular culture--corridos have maintained a number of important characteristics. As in the past, texts seem obscure to outsiders, events are narrated within a historical or realistic dimension and emphasis is given to stories of tragic or dramatic quality.2 The genre also continues to be fundamentally a poetic medium of expression that combines metrics, rhythm, and melody to convey issues of significant importance to the audience.3

Corridos have evolved into brief narratives that seem to lack critical information about the events described.4 As before, contemporary authors and audiences share a significant basis of knowledge and opinion to warrant utmost textual brevity. This shared information, however, is no longer immediate, as it was when the genre was transmitted orally and local community issues provided the basic subject matter that inspired corrido composers. Yet, even today, a competent listener must possess basic cultural information to decode the meaning of the narrative. A second important aspect that comes to the aid of all corrido audiences is familiarity with the conventions of the genre. Since experienced audiences have listened to a considerable number of corridos, a few musical beats and several allusive words may suffice to distinguish originality and value in a corrido. Naturally, corrido audiences are aesthetically predisposed to enjoy the genre, have personal repertoires of favorites, and are sensitive to the cultural nuances in the compositions they hear.

The bibliography and discography available for the study of the corrido have

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emerged in three overlapping phases. A first or initial phase began in the first half of the twentieth century, when oral and literary texts were published in broadsides, in songbooks, cited within other texts, or recorded. Sound recordings, of course, maintain a fuller dimension of the actual performance, since the textual transcriptions rarely included musical illustrations.5 A second or pioneering phase began in the middle 1930's with the publication of collections and analyses of the corrido corpus. During this period researchers established the basis for the study of the corrido as a serious and significant area of intellectual coneern.6 A third or contemporary phase has emerged in the last twenty-five years when, continuing previous efforts, a larger and representative corrido corpus became available and the study of the genre was revitalized.7

During the second phase, the term corrido was formally defined. An early and influential notion that helped establish the parameters of the genre was the literary definition of the corrido advanced by Armando Duvalier (1937): "[an] epic-lyric poem, ranging between twenty and thirty octosyllabic quatrains and subject to six basic primary formulas"(16). In addition, Duvalier suggested eight secondary formulas that may occasionally appear in corridos.8 According to Duvalier, the primary formulas that shape the overall narrative structure of the poem are,

(1)   Singer's initial address to the audience  

(2)   Place, time, and name of the main character

(3)   Antecedents to the arguments of the main character

(4)   Message

(5)   Main character's farewell

(6)   Composer's farewell

These primary formulas need not all appear in a particular corrido, although all samples of the genre must include at least three: (2) place and name of the main character, (4) message, and (5 or 6) the farewell. They must also maintain an arrangement of four or six lines per stanza.

Another important and influential contribution to the definition of the genre appeared in Vicente T. Mendoza's monumental El romance español y el corrido mexicano (1939). Mendoza's work provided a foundation for study of the corrido. In his Lírica narrativa de México: El corrido (1964), he defirted the corrido as:

An epic-lyric-narrative genre--with quatrains with variable rhyme, either assonant or consonant on even lines-a literary form based on a musical phrase of four members, describing events that cause a deep impact on the masses. (9)

A most significant stage in the study of the genre came from the United States. In his monograph on the ballad of Gregorio Cortez, With his Pistol in his Hand: A Border Hero and its Hero (1958), Américo Paredes focused on the complex interrelationship between the history, the legend, and the corrido variants dedicated to

Guillermo E. Hernández  71

this heroic figure. A most valuable aspect in Paredes' study was his insistence on the relation between the corrido of Cortez and the rich cultural tradition of balladry that existed along the U.S.-Mexico border during the second half of the nineteenth century. Paredes' approach represents a model of research demonstrating the interdisciplinary requirements involved in the analysis of a genre as multifarious as the corrido.

In contrast with Américo Paredes, whose emphasis was in American folklore, Merle E. Simmons applied methods from literary criticism to suggest a continental diffusion of the Spanish romance that resulted in the eventual creation of the Mexican corrido. In "The Ancestry of Mexico's Corridos" (1963), Simmons provided evidence of how a slow gestation took place from the colonial period to the present. His thesis provoked an immediate rebuttal from Américo Paredes. In "The Ancestry of Mexico's Corridos: A Matter of Definitions" (1963), Paredes reaffirmed his position on the border as a geographic and cultural origin of the corrido. Paredes also challenged Vicente T. Mendoza's earlier argument for the Mexican state of Michoacan as a probable site for such an origin. This debatable issue was further magnified by Celedonio Serrano Martinez, who, in his monograph El corrido no deriva del romance espahol (1973), proposed an indigenous or prehispanic corrido origin, although he provided no documentary evidence to back up his claim. These discussions on the genealogy of the corrido, although important, tended to eschew earlier questions regarding the definition of the genre and the contours of its corpus. Indeed, efforts to define the corrido are necessary to advance our understanding of the formal characteristics and the parameters of the corpus, circumscribing factors that will prove fundamental in any eventual elucidation of the creation and diffusion of the genre.

John Holmes MacDowell undertook the task of reformulating basic questions on the distinguishing features of the corrido corpus. His work can be said to represent the beginning of the third, contemporary phase, in the study of the corrido. In "The Mexican Corrido: Formula and Theme in a Ballad Tradition" (1972), McDowell successfully applied Parry and Lord's influential oral-formulaic theory to the corrido tradition, finding that the "the world view of the corrido makes available to the corridista a set of themes, legends, and personages." Furthermore, the formula in the corrido represents "a means of including the peripheral themes and developing the central theme, all within the metric and rhyme stipulations of the genre" (220).

In "The Corrido of Greater Mexico as Discourse, Music, and Event" (1981). McDowell reveals a complex set of conditions evident in the corrido as discourse, music, and event. Regarding discourse, he considers: "the corrido is narrative, reflexive, and propositional in semantic intent and poetic in technique." Musically, he observes: "two autonomous systems, the poetic and the musical, are brought into parity through minor adjustments of the verse line to the musical phrase." Finally, he finds the corrido to be: "a performance event which calls into play a wide range of communicative resources belonging to the native expressive ecol-

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ogy, articulating them by means of an impressive inventory of esthetic, social, economic, and political variables" (40, 70,73).

Another major contribution to the study of the corrido corpus was the publication of Cuauhtémoc Esparza Sanchez's El corrido zacatecano (1976). This collection provides a detailed documentation of the longest living Mexican corrido tradition available. Esparza Sanchez includes as his earliest example a corrido narrative, with music, whose heroic protagonist is the leader of the Mexican independence, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, describing his entrance and imprisonment in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, during 1811. Other examples are included that help to identify a vital regional tradition in existence throughout the nineteenth century. Such a discovery represents a major contribution to the study of the corrido, its corpus, and the evolution and characteristics of the genre.

Our current knowledge of the corrido has been greatly enhanced by these efforts to revise the genre's definition and characteristics as well as its origins and evolution. In addition, the numerous corrido collections that have been compiled during the last fifty years demand a reexamination of the genre's nature and contours.8  It is a task that, undoubtedly, will continue to demand the attention of students of this important ballad tradition. With these considerations in mind, I propose to discuss, on the basis of thematic representation and narrative discourse, the formal characteristics as well as the basis for composition and dissemination that act as a complex interplay of factors binding a corrido tradition.

Thematic Representation

Thematic representation in the corrido indicates a composer's treatment of the tale's subject matter. Four areas or modes of thematic representation are evident in a traditional corrido text: 1) character, 2) value, 3) time and setting, and 4) language. These modes, naturally, do not occur in isolation, but rather appear simultaneously, sustaining and intensifying each other's significance. The cultural importance of these modes cannot be underestimated: each reflects the world-view of corrido communities and, in turn, produces a substantial impact on the beliefs and practices of corrido audiences. Each of these modes has distinct components.

The first mode, character, includes protagonists, allies, enemies, witnesses, or community members, audiences, and narrators (composers, performers). The second mode, value, can be broken down into positive values and qualities, on the one hand, and negative values and qualities, on the other. Positive values include good, truth, courage, virtue, love, loyalty, strength, charisma, kindness, generosity, pride, humility, gratefulness, righteous, care, and competency. Negative values encompass evil, deception, cowardice, corruption, hate, treachery, weakness, awkwardness, cruelty, selfishness, shame, arrogance, ungratefulness, wrongfulness, mistreatment, and unfitness. The third mode, time and setting (of the narration or the performance), comprises spaces or times that may be public, private, official, ordinary, geographic, historic, or imagined. The fourth mode concerns language, which may

Guillermo E. Hernández  73

be poetic, formal, infornial (colloquial, dialectal), concise, or direct, and articulated as monologue or dialogue.

Character

The corrido possesses a number of characteristics that serve to identify the genre and aid in its interpretation. Foremost among these characteristics is the portrayal of human beings whose acts conform to the experiences and expectations of corrido listeners. That is, the characters depicted are people whose behavior is credible in daily life but who have participated in actions that have had a deep impact on local communities. This is particularly true in the case of the protagonist, who generally serves as a model of conduct under extraordinary circumstances. Francisco I. Madero, the leader of the Mexican revolution is thus portrayed in a popular corrido from the period:

Ah qué Madero tan hombre,
le conozco sus acciones:
derecho se fue a la cárcel
a echar fuera las prisiones.
¡Virgen Santa de Guadalupe
to Ilene de bendiciones!
("Nuevo corriclo de Madero," in Hernández 1985a, 39-41)

Madero is a man who is known ("le conozco"), courageous ("tan hombre"), just and resolute in liberating oppressed prisoners ("derecho se file a la cárcel/ a echar fuera las prisiones"), and who deserves the blessing of the most popular Mexican religious figure ("¡Virgen Santa de Guadalupe lo Ilene de bendiciones!")

Characters within a corrido are represented comparatively. That is, their actions and attitudes within the narrative are interdependent, and they help define their respective roles as allies, enemies, witnesses, community members, or narrators. For example, in the introductory stanza to the corrido about the MexicanTexan hero Gregorio Cortez, a number of characters are identifiable:

En el condado del Carmen
miren lo que ha sucedido:
murió el Sheriffe Mayor,
quedando Román herido.
    ("Gregorio Cortez," in Strachwitz 1994, 25-33)

Here, the narrators (composer and performers) address an audience within and without the narrative, composed of allies, witnesses, and community members ("miren"). Then, the sole mention of the "Sheriffic Mayor" suffices to identify his figure as an enemy, given his affiliation with the oppressive Texas Rangers, and his death signals the gravity of the situation. Finally, the narrator alludes to the protagonist's

74  Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

brother Román, whose wound intensifies the Gregorio's predicament, as an ally.

The protagonist's defeat is generally a tragic, although heroic, event. As other corrido figures, Cortez demonstrates moral authority despite his vulnerable situation. Alluding to the distress suffered by his loved ones magnifies the human dimension of his plight.

Cuando llegan los sheriffes
Gregorio se presentó:
Por la buena si me llevan
porque de otro modo, no.-

Ya agarraron a Cortez,
ya terminó la cuestión,
la pobre de so familia
la lleva en el corazón.
      ("Gregorio Cortez," in Strachwitz 1994, 25-33)

The qualities ascribed to protagonists may also include humor. Often the negative qualities demonstrated by the enemy merit irony and sarcasm from the narrator. Running in the middle of battle is a mark of cowardice:

Los de Yurécuaro andaban,
at golpetear la carrera,
que parecían golondrinos
por entre la zacatera.

Los de Yurécuaro andaban
que no hallaban ni qué hacer,
Ilorando como chiquitos
cuando ya querían correr.
     ("Corrido de Yurécuaro y Tanhuato," in Hernández 1985a, 25-28)

The representation of characters includes narrators, who may be either composers or performers, as is evident in "Jesús Leal," a corrido dedicated to a hero from the state of Michoacán who was apprehended and executed in 1873:

Adiós Jesúsito Leal,
yo me despido de ti,
estos versos te compuso
una joven de Tepic
      (Jesús Leal," in Hernández 1985a, 28-32)

Here the composer-narrator bids farewell ("yo me despido de ti") and addresses the protagonist Leal ("de it"). It is noticeable that, after identifying herself ("una joven de Tepic"), her words will be repeated by all succeeding performer-narrators sing-

Guillermo E. Hernández  75

ing the corrido, although untrue in their cases. This shift in narrative voice, from composer to performer, may modify a narrative. In "Jesús Leal" this shift accentuates the narrator's awareness of the act of creation ("estos versos te compuso/una joven"), demonstrating, as MacDowell has noted, the genre's capacity for reflexivity.

Variations in narrative voice are common in the corrido. For example in "Kiansis," the performer-narrator informs the listening audience ("La mujer de Alberto Flores"), then recreates a dialogue-within the narrative-between a cowboy's mother (¿Qué razón me da de mi hijo") and her son's boss (caporal) ("Señora, yo le diría,/pero se pone a llorar"). In the last stanza there is a return to the narrative voice of the performer, first addressing the audience ("Ya no tengo que cantarles"), and then continuing the narative ("aquí termina"):

La mujer de Alberto Flores
le pregunta al caporal:
-Deme razón de mi hijo
que no lo he visto llegar?-

-Señora, yo le diria,
pero se pone a llorar
lo mató un toro frontino
en las trancas de un corral.-

Ya con ésta me despido
Por el amor de mi querida
Ya les canté a mis amigos
Los versos de la corrida.
      ("Kiansis," in Paredes 1976, 54)

Although corrido protagonists are predominantly male figures with characteristics denoting local Mexican culture, the genre easily admits other identities that conform to these norms. Such flexibility explains the enormous success, in the 1970's, of "Contrabando y traición," a corrido portraying a woman who conducts herself as a model protagonist:

Sonaron siete balazos,
Camelia a Emilio mataba;
la policia sólo halló
una pistola tirada,
del dinero y de Camelia
nunca mas se supo nada.
      ("Contrabando y traición," in Vélez 1982, 68)

Indeed, Camelia is able to escape punishment for her execution of Emilio and to keep the money; she is never seen again. Previous heroines of corridos were, fre-

76  Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

quently, negative models who were censured for violating codes of behavior. A new day for the role of gender in the corrido is also marked by a narrative voice that blames Emilio for his fate and does not condemn Camelia:

Una hembra, si quiere a un hombre
por él puede dar la vida,
pero hay que tener cuidado
si esa hembra se siente herida;
la traición y el contrabando
son cosas incompartidas.
       ("Contrabando y traición," in VéIez 1982, 68)

Such adaptability helps explain why the history of the genre has shown the capacity to portray protagonists with such a wide variety of occupations, regional characteristics, political affiliations, and social identities. Indeed, this versatility enables corridos to deploy even non-human protagonists, such as horses, as long as their treatment conforms to its heroic canons. In the corrido "El potro lobo gateado," for example, the horse is a on an equal level to the role played by the cowboy."

Montó el charro en su caballo:
-Esa carrera les gano.
Mi caballo es muy violento:
se va venir como rayo,
le va ganar a la yegua.
¡Prepárenle otro caballo!

A las primeras pasturas
el caballo no se vía,
se cubrió de polvadera.
¡Qué caballo tan violento!
Nomás alas le faltaban para volar por el viento.
       ("El potro lobo gateado," in Hemández 1985a, 26-27)

Values and qualities

The representation of corrido characters adheres to a traditional code of ethics according to which the actions of individuals are judged either in positive or in negative terms. That is, as MacDowell (1981) points out, the corrido is propositional. It is a genre of exemplar narratives where conflictive situations find a resolution in the defeat or victory of an opponent. Although characters may represent a single value or quality, their portrayal generally includes a variety or a combination of characteristics. Nevertheless, given the heroic nature of the tradition, courage is one of the qualities commonly attributed to protagonists. For example, in the corrido of "Arnulfo," the two protagonists are described as charismatic ("qué bonitos son

Guillermo E. Hernández  77

los hombres"), and righteous ("defendiendo so derecho"), but it is their courage ("que se matan pecho a pecho") that provides them with a larger-than-life dimension.

¡Que bonitos son los hombres
que se matan pecho a pecho,
cada uno con su pistola,
defendiendo su derecho!
       ("Arnulfo," in Ortiz 1992,28-29)

Enemy characters are often denigrated, and the negative representation of their values and qualities stands in contrast to the virtues of heroic opponents. Such is the treatment accorded Victoriano Huerta, responsible for the coup d'état against the revered revolutionary president Francisco I. Madero. In "The Battle of Zacatecas," Huerta is portrayed as corrupt "borracho", awkward "patas chuecas", and weak in battle (Zacatecas) after suffering a stunning defeat at the hands of his adversary (Pancho Villa).

Ahora si, borracho Huerta,
harás las patas más chuecas
al saber que Pancho Villa
ha tomado Zacatecas.
      ("La toma de Zacatecas," in Hernández 1985a, 68-69)

Satirical intent underlies General Inez Chávez Garcia's treatment of an aspiring follower:

Decía Rafael Espinoza:
-Señor, to acompañaré.
Y don Inez le decía:
-¿Para que lo quiero a usté?
         ("Corrido de Inez Chávez García," in Hernández 1985a, 112-115)

The audience will certainly notice the ridiculous treatment (foolishness) of Rafael Espinoza (an enemy) after Chávez Garcia (protagonist) rejects his request to join Chavez's forces. Local contemporaries-who knew Rafael Espinoza and the reasons for such disdain-must have appreciated the scene and fully comprehended its significance.11 Narrators frequently include such revealing textual and contextual details that describe the roles and reputations of the characters represented.

The corrido may be employed in favor of any partisan cause or figure. While admiring composers created a cycle of corridos representing Francisco Villa as a heroic protagonist, his opponents painted him with the ridiculousness associated with enemies.
Thus, in the stanzas below Villa is portrayed as an arrogant ("No te las eches") and inept soldier, reminding him of his defeat at Celaya ("las más hechas se van") and of his civilian name (Arango). Villa's followers were represented as

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ineffectual soldiers who recognize their sorrowful conditions ("Ya no semos tan temidos"). In their weakness ("pobrecita gente"), they are prone to have false beliefs ("se les afiguraba") and confuse military prowess with corruption ("que tomaban a Celaya como tomar aguardiente").

No te las eches Arango
ni te las vayas a echar,
ni las cuentes tan seguras
que las más hechas se van,

Decían los pobres villistas:
-Ya no semos tan temidos,
por dondequiera rodamos,
parecemos armadillos.

Ya se les afiguraba
a esa pobrecita gente
que tomaban a Celaya
como tomar aguardiente.
        ("Derrota de Villa en Celaya," in Hernández 1985a, 79-82)

Time and Setting

Time and setting refer to the chronology and geography of events in corrido narrativcs. The backgrounds mentioned tend to reflect the time and place that are customary in daily life: "En la ciudad de Linares/serían más o menos/cinco de la tarde ("Subteniente de Linares," in Ortiz 1992, 71-72). Quite often a scene only provides a point of reference: "Kilometro once setenta,/carretera nacional, ("Arturo Garza Treviño," in Ortiz 1992, 68-69). To experienced corrido listeners such outlines are sufficient since previous knowledge and imagination help recreate the suggested scene. For example, in the corrido "San Pedro de los Ruedas" the yearly festivities are minimally listed ("juego de pelota . . . peleas de gallos") while the gathering of large number of people is barely mentioned ("La gente llegó en camiones/otros a pie y a caballo"). The only time alluded to is the annual event ("cada año").

Había juego de pelota,
también peleas de gallos;
la gente llegó en camiones
otros a pie y a caballo
pa' celebrar una fiesta
que se festeja cada año.
         ("San Pedro de los Rueda,-Ortiz 1992, 91)

Commonly mentioned corrido settings include the plaza, street, dance hall, bar, or battlefield. Natural settings are frequent: a road, a sierra or a hill, a mine, or an

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agricultural field. Although less usual, the portrayal of an official setting also occurs, such as a church, a military installation or an office. Although scenes in corridos often display public settings where the narrated events occur, sometimes the settings are private, as in the home or in a dialogue. Chronological references are common. Generally, any mention of time is limited either to the hour, the day, or the year when an event takes place. As with other modes, corridos are flexible in adopting a variety of settings yet maintain adherence to times and locations that are traditionally employed. Indeed, time and setting are important elements of representation in the corrido, since geography and chronology imprint a sense of realism that provides historical credibility and relevance to the actions of the characters:

En mil novecientos quince,
Jueves Santo en la mañana,
salió Villa de Torreón a combatir a Celaya
         ("La toma de Celaya," in Hernández 1985a, 69-70

Language

An important linguistic aspect of corridos is their observance of dialectal patterns and adherence to traditional speech. Their vocabulary is often distinctively regional and follows Mexican Spanish rural traditions. In their usage speakers employ words such as "via" for "veía", "ora" for "ahora", "suidad" for "ciudad", "usté" for "usted", and "ahi" and "haiga" for "haya." The pronunciation and inflection of performers will parallel local dialectal tonalities serving as a marker to corrido audiences that the message conveys their social and cultural assumptions. The narrative, however, may also contain significant linguistic and cultural infianuation. For example, in the corrido of "Manuel Lozada," listeners are aware of speech usage in a trilingual community of northern Mexico (Huichol, Cora and Spanish), in addition to local conventions such as playing the tambora:

Llegaron a los portales
gritando en huichol y cora:
que les dieran aguardiente y
 tocaran la tambora.
        ("Corrido de Manuel Lozada," in Esparza Sánchez 1976, 25-28)

The listener, therefore, is expected to possess knowledge of local linguistic customs in order to appreciate nuances in a narrative. "Filadelfo Robles," a corrido from the "Costa Chica" an Afro-Mestizo region in the Mexican state of Guerrero-uses African ancestral conventions ("sombra pesada") and local vocabulary ("broza"). 12

Ese Filadelfo Robles
tenía la sonibra pesada.

80 Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

él andando con su broza
ni los perros le ladraban.
      ("Filadelfo Robles," in Aguirre Beltrán 1985, 176)

Similarly, the influence of English language among Spanish speakers is present among the U.S.-Mexico border populations. In "El Contrabando del Paso," an office, a location, and a vehicle are mentioned as a result of linguistic borrowings: "corte" from "court," "dipo" from "depot," and "coche" from "coach."

Nos sacaron de la corte
a las ocho de la noche,
nos llevaron para el dipo,
nos montaron en un coche.
        ("El Contrabando del Paso," in Strachwitz 1994, 100-104)

Although the corrido must convey an everyday, factual perception of the world, its language is constructed on the basis of poetic rhythms. The poetic form is customarily based on variable octosyllabic quatrains with a rhyme scheme that coincides in the even lines, as is customary in the copla:

Some corridos, however, have six or seven syllables; less frequently, others may be found with eleven and more syllables per line.13

Rhyme schemes may show a degree of variation from the traditional patterns. Some composers Utilize rhymes that coincide in both the odd and the even lines, but even these deviations tend to maintain a basic dependence on the norm. In "Pistoleros Famosos," two lines are added to the quatrain but, although the first (A) and the

Guillermo E. Hernández  81

third (A) lines rhyme, only the sixth (B) line maintains the traditional rhyming scheme with the second (B) and the fourth (B) lines:

While the above examples maintain a strict metrical and rhyming regularity, it is frequent to find deviations from these norms. Irregularities are more common among older corridos whose oral diffusion increases the possibility for the creation of variants. In contrast, contemporaneous corridos are generally transmitted through electronic means of production and communication and, therefore, tend to maintain a single narrative textual version and regular metrics. This poetic tendency in modem corridos also influences their linguistic conventions: they are products of popular culture rather than oral tradition.

Narrative Discourse

Narrative discourse in the corrido tradition can be divided into seven sections: 1) fate, 2) pursuit, 3) challenge, 4) confrontation, 5) defeat, 6)judgement, and 7) farewell. Since these sections of narrative discourse are thoroughly familiar to knowledgeable corrido listeners, alluding to or mentioning one or more of them will suffice in a narrative. That is, a process of reconstruction takes place in the mind of an experienced listener whereby the scene in a corrido is automatically placed within the familiar context of narrative discourse. This relation between a section and the entire narrative discourse corresponds to the literary reliance of a text on a master or meta-narrative.

Each of the discursive sections may include different elements. Fate encompasses anticipation, omen, and chance. Pursuit may involve plans, coercion, chase, and escape. Challenge may take the form of ridicule, offense, defiance, provocation, aggression. The confrontation may be a duel, a battle, an attack, or a skirmish. Defeat may comprise capture, imprisonment, sentence, execution, and death. The judgement involves thought, reflection, deduction, advice, experience, and lamentation. The farewell encompasses remembrance, memory. nostalgia, and reputation.

All corridos display several narrative sections, although it is rare to find one that includes all. Since the existence of the genre is directly proportional to the presence of these narrative sections, their absence may exclude a song from the corrido corpus. Indeed, without their presence especially the sections of chal-

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lenge, confrontation, and defeat-corridos lack the emotional power characteristic of the genre and may be excluded from its corpus.

Fate

All references to the misfortune that eventually befalls a character are included under the narrative section fate. The identification of a vice will be an indication that tragedy is awaiting a culprit; usually recklessness or breaking the norms of good conduct causes the unfortunate end. Such is the example of Reyes Ruiz, a protagonist who disregards his mother's advice to abstain from attending the celebration of the Mexican Independence Day on the 16^th of September. In spite of a parental prohibition ("a ese dieciséis no vas") and his peers' warning ("lo mejor sera no ir"), Reyes's violation of the omen ("no sabes to porvenir") leads him to his death.

Su mamá le respondió:
-hijo de nú corazón,
a ese dieciséis no vas,
ahí irás en otra ocasión.

Sus amigos le decían:
Lo mejor será no ir,
si ni madre te lo evita,
no sabes tu porvenir.
         ("De Reyes Ruiz," in Mendoza 1964, 262-263)

Ill fortune may also occur to an arrogant character who mistreats those who are economically, politically or socially weak. Reckless disdain in "Asesino a sueldo" leads the hired murderer to declare his intentions, suffering fatal consequences for this mistake:

-Vengo a matar a tu padre.
Así dijo el gatillero;
el niño no era cobarde
y lo sorprendió primero:
lo fusiló con un mauser
y cinco balas de acero.
       ("Asesino a sueldo," in Ortiz 1992, 114-115)

Pursuit

A common scene in corridos portrays a heroic protagonist who is chased by a group of enemies under overwhelming and unjust conditions. In the corrido "Gregono Cortez," for example, the large number of lawmen pursuing Cortez through the state of Texas highlights his solitary figure attempting to escape the injustice await-

Guillermo E. Hernández  83

ing him. The inhumanity of his pursuers leads them to employ bloodhounds to hunt him down. The contrast between the humble and vulnerable man who successfully evades his ferocious pursuers provides Cortez with a larger-than-life stature:

Soltaron los perros jaunes
pa' que siguieran la huella,
pero seguir a Cortez
era seguir una estrella.
           ("Gregorio Cortez," in Strachwitz 1994, 25-33)

The pursuit of a character includes numerous narrative aspects involving pursuers and the pursued: plans for capture and escape, mental and physical activities, peculiarities of the pursuit, and description of the escape and attendant conditions. The unequal conditions of this situation coincide with the role of the corrido as a medium of expression to convey local community history:

Agarró los diez mil pesos,
los amarró en su mascada,
y le dijo al comandante:
-Prevéngase su Acordada.

-Prevéngase su Acordada
y escuadrón militar,
y vámonos a Durango
a traer a Heraclio Bernal.
         ("Heraclio Bernal," in Hernández 1985a, 32-35)

Often this persecution takes a symbolic form that involves the coercion or intimidation of the protagonist by someone who has a higher position of authority or social and political prominence. The coercion demonstrated toward the main character also produces a double response on the part of the listener: sympathy toward the misfortunes of the protagonist and a deep sense of antagonism for the injustices perpetrated by the oppressors. In "Belén Galindo," for example, the narrative voice reconstructs the malicious words of the evil mother-in-law as she transmits the immoral proposition of a possible suitor:

Llega la suegra y le dice:
-Belén, te vengo a avisar,
don Marcos te quiere mucho,
te da plata pa' gastar.
         ("Mañanas de Belén Galindo," in Esparza Sánchez 1976. 37-38)

Challenge

The values advocated by the corrido favor exemplary behavior supporting commu-

84  Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

nity norms. The pride and courage of heroic protagonists justify their open defiance of their enemies. Such boldness, however, must not be interpreted as arrogance or vanity, flaws of character usually ascribed to enemies. That is, the challenge serves to mark offended righteousness, highlighting the vices of opponents, and asserting the positive values guiding the actions of favored characters. The audience appreciates the scorn launched against a powerful enemy (Porfirio Diaz) who has inept soldiers ("que les mande otros mejores") fighting an invincible and defying protagonist (Ignacio Parra):

Les gritaba Ignacio Parra:
Lástima de tiradores,
díganle a Porfirio Díaz
que les mande orros mejores.
       ("Ignacio Parra," in Hernández 1985a, 21-22)

An offended hero is often entirely justified in expressing rage at the dishonorable actions of an enemy:

González bajó el cabresto
y se to llevó un amigo.
Roberto de su caballo
le gritaba, enfurecido:
-Yo creí que tú eras hombre,
no pensé que eras vendido.
       ("La chiva colgada," in Ortiz 1992, 66-67)

This scene describes the act of seizing a goat that hangs from a moving rope by a rider on a horse running at full gallop. It represents a public performance of a feat requiring great skill. Martínez is the man in charge of manipulating the rope, and Roberto's failure and his accusation of fraud are both serious affronts in the eyes of the community.

Confrontation

The confrontation constitutes a narrative element that is central to the corrido. Whether described or alluded to, the clash of two incompatible opponents who resolve a fundamental disagreement helps define the critical issues on which the entire composition rests. The genre can be considered as epic-tragic because it poses a denouement that cannot admit of a happy resolution for both advesaries. Given the respect expected toward elders, the indignant rejection ("váyase de aquí") on the part of Belén Galindo toward her immoral mother-in law, demonstrating her innocence ("yo no soy de esas"), justifies the following showdown:

Váyase de aquí, señora,
no me venga a molestar.

Guillermo E. Hemández 85

mire que yo no soy de ésas,
no me doy ese lugar.
      ("Mañanas de Belén Galindo," in Esparza Sánchez, 37)

In "Valente Quintero" the conflict is resolved in a duel where Valente Quintero and Martin Elenes kill each other.

Se tomaron de la mano,
se apartaron de la bola,
y a los poquitos momentos:
seis disparos de pistola.
       ("De Valente Quintero," in Mendoza 1964,197-198)

The confrontation may involve non-human opponents, such as the two horses vying for first place in "El Moro de Cumpas." Although the horserace involves two owners (Rafael Romero and Pedro "Piter"), and two riders (Trini Ramírez and Chendo Valenzuela), engaged in their respective contests, the two horses (Relámpago and Moro) are the real challengers:

Por fin dieron el "Santiago",
el Moro salió adelante
con la intención de ganar:
Ramírez le tupió al zaino
y arnba del medio taste
dejaba a] Moro para atrás.
       ("El Moro de Cumpas," in Serna Maytorena 1988, 38-39)

The clash may also occur between forces of nature and humans as is commonly portrayed in corridos based on disasters. For example, in the corrido regarding the broken dam at Santa Clarita, California in 1928, the flood is described as a formidable enemy on a path that crushes human life. Here the lament for the helpless human victims of the catastrophe overwhelms the audience of the corrido

El torrente caminaba
destrozando las regiones,
y dejando tras su paso
machos tristes carazones.
      ("Inundación of California," in Hernández, 1978, 25-2S)

Defeat

The defeat of one of the opponents is an important turning point in corrido narratives. The success of a protagonist and the downfall of the enemy define the nature of the conflict, the values at stake, and the respective personalities of the contenders. As mentioned before, because corridos generally depict the misfortune of principal characters, the genre has acquired predominant tragic qualities. These

86  Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

courageous but fatal conditions often provide corrido protagonists with an aura of martyrdom. Thus, a national figure of the stature of Francisco I. Madero, murdered for political reasons, is portrayed as a victim of heartless enemies:

Señores, les contaré
lo que en México pasó:
que una bola de asesinos
a Madero asesinó.
        ("El cuartelazo," in Hernández 1985a, 42-46)

Corridos may also convey the sorrow suffered in the community when local figures perish in a confrontation. Such protagonists are treated as heroic victims of painful and useless sacrifices:

-Hijo de mi corazón,-
decía su padre llorando,
-has muerto como los hombres,
en tu caballo peleando.
       ("Alejos Sierra," in Paredes 1976, 79-80)

Judgement

The subject matter of the narrative is often judged within the corrido tale itself. This is usually a commentary on the actions described, a reflection on the personalities of the characters involved, or a thought on a particular human problem. The word thus expressed may include the identity of the narrator ("se apellida Salazar"), demonstrating poetic humility for his composition ("El que compuso esters versos/No tuvo conocimiento"), addressing the listening audience directly:

El que compuso estos versos
no tuvo conocimiento;
los compuso un subteniente
del segundo regimiento.

Si quieren saber su nombre
lo voy a decir ahorita
se apellida Salazae,
fue constitucionalista.
       ("La toma de Matamoros," in Hernández 1985a, 100-102)

Such commentaries, expressed by the performer within the text of the corrido, may also highlight the exemplary nature of the events narrated and the role of corrichas in prescribing community behavior. In "Carga Blanca," for example, one of the first corridos to include the topic of drugs, the narrative voice advises against drug trafficking, warning of the negative consequences awaiting the transgressors:

Guillermo E. Hernández 87

Despedida se las diera
pero ya se me perdió,
dejen los negocios chuecos:
ya ven lo que sucedió.
      ("Carga Blanca," in Ortiz 1992, 182-183)

Farewell

The narrative voice often mentions the significance of the name, qualities, or actions of the protagonist. The enumeration of a character's attributes has the putrpose of reminding the audience of the extraordinary life and death of the characters praised in the narrative. The tragic end met by many of the corrido protagonist is usually formulated as an earthly farewell, often with religious allusions, for a voyage to an eternal world.

Ya se acabó Benjamin,
ya no lo oyirán mentar.
Ya está juzgado de Dios,
ya so alma fue a descansar.
       ("Benjamín Argumedo," in Hernández 1985a, 47-53)

Conclusions

Throughout a history that is now almost two hundred years old, the corrido has had two major processes of transmission: at first it was communicated through an oral network until it was recorded commercially and became a product of popular culture. Throughout this time the corrido has tended to portray heroic actions emphasizing the tragic qualities of life. The history of the study of the genre, however, began in the early twentieth century, and it has continued to the present throughout three periods or overlapping phases: an early phase of publication of texts, a second or pioneer phase of analysis, and a third or contemporary phase when an international group of scholars and aficionados has revitalized the study of the genre.

The large corrido corpus gathered in the last fifty years merits revision of some of its basic features. The present study suggests the identification of corridos and the contours of the corpus according to two aspects: thematic representation and narrative discourse. Thematic representation in the corrido indicates the treatment given by a composer to the subject matter in the tale. Four areas or modes of thematic representation are evident in a traditional corrido text: 1) character, 2) value, 3) time and setting, and 4) language. These modes, naturally, do not occur in isolation, or in any particular order, often appearing partially or simultaneously; sustaining and intensifying each other's significance. Narrative discourse in the corrido tradition refers to the logical arrangement of events. This arrangement can be divided into seven sections: I ) fate, 2) pursuit, 3) challenge, 4) confrontation, 5) defeat, 6)

88  Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

judgement, 7) farewell. Since these sections of narrative discourse are thoroughly familiar to knowledgeable corrido listeners, they may appear in any order and they need not be fully developed to be understood by an experienced corrido audience.

Corridos recount stories of heroic and often tragic figures who left us their example as they confronted difficult situations in their communities. Many of the names of narrators and characters as well as their trials and tribulations remain only in that collective and unofficial history that is the comido tradition.

Lo sacaron a la orilla
por ver si sabía jugar,
le dieron tres puñaladas
al pie de un verde rosal.
         ("De Lucio Pérez," in Mendoza 1964, 260-262)

Ese año de ochenta y seis,
presente lo tengo yo:
que murió Lino Rodarte,
el gobierno lo mató.
        ("Corrido de Lino Rodarte," in Esparza Sánchez 1976, 30-32)

Notes

1. Nicolopolus (1997) discusses various views of the epic corrido, its "second orality" as well as its survival in our own days. Limon (1992) discusses the survival of  the corrido of "Greater Mexico" in "residual" form.

2. A distinction must be made between corridos that are indeed based on strict historical fact and others that are predominantly fictional. The latter are often the creation of professional, urban composers who emulate, with various degrees of success, the realistic tradition of conridos based on historical fact.

3. There is an erroneous though, unfortunately, widespread conception that corridos serve a role in oral communication similar to the function plated by newspapers in literate societies. As John MacDowell has appropriately stated: "[T]he purpose of the corrido is not, as some scholars have supposed, to convey news. News travels readily enough through less formal channels such as gossip, anecdote, etc. Generally speaking, the corrido depends on a prior transmission of news; its purpose is to interpret, celebrate, and ultimately dignify events already thoroughly familiar to the couido audience" (1981: 47).

4. The advent of the commercially recorded corrido was especially significant in the development of brief corridos. The recordings in 78 rpm discs originally employed both sides for a single corrido. Later, record labels reduced the length of the composition and recorded two per side. This practice was guided exclusively by business: a disc including two corrido titles could attract a larger number of buyers. Since that period corridos have a tendency toward briefiness-6 to 9 stanzas- in comparison with older samples that often exceeded fifteen stanzas. In the "Introduction" to his recorded collection ( 1994), Strachwitz discusses "The Golden Age of the Recorded Corrido." Spottswood

Guillermo E. Hernández  89

1990) has, gathered a monumental discography on the recordings made in the United States.

5. Important collections from this early period include, among others, Vásquez Santana (Guanajuato), Vicente T. Mendoza (Mexico), Américo Paredes (Texas), Aguirre Beltrán (Guerrero), Celedonio Serrano Martínez (Guerrero), Mario Colín (Estado de México). Armando María y Campos and Herrera Frimont (Mexican Revolution), Eduardo Guerrero and Vanegas Arroyo (Broadsides), and Vicente Acosta (Arizona).

6. Notable pioneers during the second phase were: Armando Duvalier, VicenteT. Mendoza, Américo Paredes, Merle E. Simmons, Cuahutémoc Esparza Sánchez, Celedonio, Serrano Martínez, John Donald Robb, Daniel Castañeda and Héctor Pérez Martínez.

7. This phase is distinguished by the establishment of a relatively large international network of corrido scholars and aficionados engaged in teaching and lecturing as well as the publication of articles and books on the genre based on archival and field research.

8. Duvalier's secondary formulas are: I) Insistence on remembering a particular event, 2) Outcry or reflection on an event narrated, 3) Biographical discussion of the character described, 4) Summary of the events narrated, 5) Appeal for the purchase of the corrido, 6) Corridista announces end of first part and next part or sequel, 7) Name of composer, 8) Beginning of the second part or any other corriclo that follows.

9. In addition to the collection from Zacatecas, other important regional collections have been available in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Among others that should be mentioned is the Arholie collection of commercial recordings dating from the 1920's to the present. Numerous corrido anthologies and recordings are now available from the states of Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacan, Morelos, Nuevo León, New Mexico, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tehuantepec (Istmo), Texas, and Veracruz, as well as general collections in Mexico and in the United States.

10. Most corridos depicting horse races portray the horse as protagonist and their owners as secondary characters. Dual protagonists, such as in the corrido of the "Potro potro lobo gateado," are rare. Their existence may be explain as a story-within-the-story: a cowboy defies a rich hacienda owner and the horse race is a subaltern narrative which could also stand on its own.

11. Guadalupe Garcia Torres (1997) discusses the historical context for the cycle of corridos dedicated to this revolutionary.

12. Filadelo's "heavy shadow" indicates his status as all extraordinary individual. Aguirre Beltrán (1985) discusses this concept as a surviving African spiritual belief. "Broza" is the gang or group of followers.

13. There is a type of composition, identified as a corrido, found primarily in the Mexican states of Morelos, with long lines of fourteen and more syllables. Although identified as corridos, this branch of musical compositions must first be studied comparatively in order to assess its degree of similarity and difference with the tragic corrido found in other parts of Mexico and the United States. A similar study should be conducted with the valona. Razo Oliva (1997) discusses the possibility of a link between corrido and valona.

90    Studies in Latin American Popular Culture

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