{"id":52593,"date":"2025-01-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=52593"},"modified":"2025-01-07T08:12:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T14:12:51","slug":"texas-folklore-society-announces-publication-of-fiestas-in-laredo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/texas-folklore-society-announces-publication-of-fiestas-in-laredo\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Folklore Society Announces Publication of \u2018Fiestas in Laredo\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 The Texas Folklore Society, a partner of Tarleton State University, is celebrating the publication of \u201cFiestas in Laredo: Matachines, Quincea\u00f1eras, and George Washington’s Birthday\u201d by Norma E. Cant\u00fa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Book<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Told from an insider\u2019s perspective and blending memoir, ethnography and folkloristic analysis, Cant\u00fa continues decades of scholarship on the Texas-Mexico Borderlands in \u201cFiestas in Laredo.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this book, Cant\u00fa embodies the dual roles of a trained academic and a community scholar, providing a depth of knowledge about Laredo that would be nearly impossible for an outsider to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book, edited by Tarleton State\u2019s Dr. Kristina Downs, examines three distinct forms of fiesta as they take place in the border city. She first discusses Laredo\u2019s Matachines troupe, who perform dances blending Spanish and Indigenous traditions as part of Catholic observances. Next, she looks at quincea\u00f1eras, the coming-of-age tradition observed by Latino and Latin American families for a girl\u2019s 15th birthday. Finally, she examines Laredo\u2019s celebration of George Washington\u2019s birthday \u2014 a month-long celebration with a distinct Borderlands flavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa\u2019s concept of sentipensante (thinking\/feeling) folkloristics \u2014 drawing on the concept of sentipensante pedagogy developed Laura Rend\u00f3n \u2014 allows for the blending of intellectual knowledge with the emotional component of lived experience. Her analysis is heavily influenced by Gloria Anzald\u00faa and her concept of nepantla,<\/em> a Nahuatl word meaning \u201ca quality of being in between.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em>Fiestas in Laredo\u201d<\/em> builds on the Texas Folklore Society\u2019s long tradition of documenting the lore of the Texas-Mexico border \u2014 a tradition that dates to the society\u2019s very first publication in 1916, which features a variation of the corrido “Adelina” collected in Laredo. This latest TFS book is a fitting continuation of a legacy begun more than 100 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa is the Murchison Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Trinity University, a lifetime member of the Texas Folklore Society, and a past president of the American Folklore Society. She was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and raised in Laredo, Texas, where she attended public schools. She is the author of \u201cCaba\u00f1uelas,\u201d editor (with Olga N\u00e1jera-Ram\u00edrez) of \u201cChicana Traditions: Continuity and Change,\u201d and editor (with Olga N\u00e1jera-Ram\u00edrez and Brenda Romero) of \u201cDancing across Borders: <\/em>Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 The Texas Folklore Society, a partner of Tarleton State University, is celebrating the publication of \u201cFiestas in Laredo: Matachines, Quincea\u00f1eras, and George Washington’s Birthday\u201d by Norma E. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":52601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":422,"footnotes":""},"categories":[422,424,425],"tags":[440],"class_list":["post-52593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morestories","category-arts-events","category-campus-community","tag-college-of-liberal-fine-arts"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2025\/01\/Texas-Folklore-Society-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_morestories<\/a>","Arts & Events<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_morestories<\/span>","Arts & Events<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["College of Liberal & Fine Arts<\/a>"],"unlinked":["College of Liberal & Fine Arts<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 year ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on January 7, 2025","modified":"Updated on January 7, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on January 7, 2025 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on January 7, 2025 8:12 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Texas Folklore Society logo with a bird silhouette.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52593"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52602,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52593\/revisions\/52602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}