La Versada Jarochicana: Resistance, Retroacculturation and Popular Songwriting

One of the most important battlefields in the struggle of Mexican-Americans against assimilation has been that of language, with a long history of progress, stagnation and setbacks that have accompanied the Chicano presence in the United States. Recent years have seen the emergence of a phenomenon known as retroacculturation, in which new generations of Mexican-Americans rediscover and revitalize the cultures of their ancestors. Within this process of revaluation, a transnational and transcultural movement known as the Movimiento Jaranero has vindicated the lyrical and musical practices of son jarocho, with original verses in Spanish as an increasingly important element of cultural resistance.