The University of Arizona Press
When: Monday, April 24, 2023, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Pere Marquette Gallery, Saint Louis University, 221 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO
Anthony Macías will speak on Ex Uno Plura (out of One, Many). In this free public talk, Macías analyzes the concept of cultural pluralism vis-a-vis the defacto United States motto, E Pluribus Unum and its reverse, using Chicano-Chicana cultural production as evidence to demonstrate how popular culture plays a crucial role in imagining Americana. There will be a reception after the talk, and his book Chicano-Chicana Americana will be available for purchase.
Chicano-Chicana Americana, explores American national character by showing how ethnic Mexicans attained social and cultural status through fair, open competition without a radical realignment of political or economic structures. Their creative achievements demanded dignity and earned respect. Anthony Macías argues that these performances demonstrated a pop culture pluralism that subtly changed mainstream America, transforming it from the mythological past of the Wild West to the speculative future of science fiction.
Anthony Macías is an associate professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of the book Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles, 1935–1968. He has also published on bebop, hip hop, punk rock, Latin music, bandleader Gerald Wilson, Jewish Americans, U.S. historiography, Hollywood westerns, gay rights and Dog Day Afternoon, and the pan-American hemispheric imaginary.
