Mexican American Corridos And African American Badman Ballads

The archetypal characters that exist in the Mexican-American corridos and African-American badman ballads are two distinct personas that reflect different yet somewhat similar stories. Border corridos are songs originating near the U.S Mexican border that primarily highlighted the struggles that the people of Mexican ethnic background dealt with when faced with opposition and oppression from the American authority. African-American badman ballads are highly similar to these to a great extent. These songs are primarily reflecting the â€Å"outlaw† figure who stems from ordinary people. They can sometimes be a malicious and dangerous person but sometimes they are portrayed as helping their lower class counterparts and conducting other acts that can be seen as more good than bad. Both of these figures are representations of resistance but they do have some differences as well. Mexican-American corridos are songs that emerged due to the border changes and conflicts that arose in t he middle of the nineteenth century. These songs were related to real people and events that encountered the oppression that was given to them. Overall, border corridos changed from being about â€Å"love and loss† to being about current border issues, entry of Anglo-Americans into Mexican territories, and other causes of tension between these two ethnic groups on opposite ends of the spectrum. (slides) The subject for the songs were known to have defied greater authority, have received help from the commonShow MoreRelatedBorder Corridos And Badman Ballads858 Words   |  4 PagesBorder corridos and Badman Ballads contain different style and techniques, however were shaped by similar social and cultural factors in history, such as interethnic conflict and discrimination. Border corridos and Badman Ballads each emerged from the oppression of a certain ethnic group, however each has its own history. Border corridos revolve around the Texas-Mexico border and illustrate the effects of the The Mexican-American War. During the Mexican-American War, Mexico lost the battle and