Life Along the Border: A Landmark Tejana Thesis (Volume 26)

Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest #26

by Jovita Gonzalez, María Eugenia Cotera (Editor)

The 1929 master's thesis of folklorist, Jovita Gonzalez has served as source material on the Texas-Mexican borderlands for more than seventy-five years but has never before been published. When Gonzalez decided to pursue a master's degree in history from the University of Texas, she was already the vice-president and president-elect of the Texas Folklore Society. Despite this, she wrote a defiant master's thesis that offered a competing vision of Texas history and culture to that promoted by the founding fathers of Texas folklore. Her complex analysis de-emphasizes the role of the Texas Revolution in Texas history and explores the ways in which Anglos and Mexicans developed tense ties following the U.S.-Mexico War. Her approach to Texas history elegantly counters the rhetoric of dominance of the established historians of the American West of her time. Gonzalez's thesis is now available for the first time to a wider reading public, especially those who value a Tejana legacy that presents the borderlands as a crucible in which a new kind of identity is being formed.

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2006

Reviews

[Maricia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading the history of the times, I feel that the title is inadequate in that there is barely one page dedicated to Zapata County, and I do not agree with her opinions of the County. I think it just shows her lack of sufficient research of the County. (Disclaimer: I am a lifelong resident of Zapata so I may be biased) I had hoped it would have had more information enough to recommend but unfortunately it does not.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had such high hopes for this book! unfortunately, i think that i enjoyed the book reviews and maria cotera's introduction more than the actual text of jovita's thesis. i wanted more depth and more critique about the "social life" of the lower rio grande valley. i suppose it's important to also consider the costraints of her time period...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic. I like it even more than her fiction.