When Narcocorridos Were Born

Abstract

The cultural landscapes that have emerged along with advanced globalization in the Western Hemisphere are nothing less than disconcerting. One of their most startling phenomena today is called the narcocorrido: an archaic and, one might think, even “primitive” form of balladry Its music intervenes into public consciousness, however, and serves as an affective force of border identity that seems to rely on epic adventures derived from today’s cross-border drug traffic. When using the term “landscapes,” we think of culture as a world of shaped matter in its visual, spatial, corporal, and auditory expressions, without necessarily belonging to the discursive universe. The presence of narcocorridos is linked to an imagination that has been emerging out of the conflicts marking U.S.-Mexican border history for more than one hundred and fifty years. The written versions of these songs do not stem from the specialized formats of writing culture but are sustained by pervasive affective repertoires. Since the late 1970s, these drug ballads have been stigmatized and adored throughout huge areas on both sides of the border, becoming transnational narratives of a new type, yet looking surprisingly localist in tone and style.