Blog -14

Folklore-549

Pat Bc

Memory is a powerful part of life within the individual (Paredes, Selenidad and Latinidad in the 1990s) for it affects one’s thoughts and how our practices are performed.  Thus our identity is derived from memory found within our culture which is an integral dimension influenced by the power of institutions within our system.  Memory evokes emotions that can strengthen or weaken our perception on life.   Understanding how one person performs her story can activate the repressed memories of the Latinos/as culture whose lives are filled with grief buried so deep (Chen, The Melancholy of Race, 2008) it precipitates a collective memory (Paredes, Selenidad, 2010).

Grief is a powerful force indicates Chen and its role in telling a story can have a positive or negative affect upon the individual.  Selena did not play the victim’s role (Polette, Ways of Knowing Worth Telling:  Why Casting Oneself as a Victim Sometimes Hurts the Cause) she shared who she was becoming through the performance of her songs. Selena told  through the words(Lionel Bailly, Lacan- A Beginner’s Guide, 2009) she spoke of her living in a  world of two cultures in which storytelling helped  to counter the  distorted views of the dominant(Polette, p. 112-114).   Selena’s lyrics and music helped others to respond collectively much like the slave narratives strengthened others to carry on the movement (Polette, 113 ) and to lift the grievance the Latino/a culture wears.  Her performance in song, dance, and clothing embodied her culture through community, relationships, and language.  Selena’s performance style captured the essence of cultural meaning and emotion within life which helped those who had become unconscious from the numbness attributed to grief (Chen, Melancholy of Race, 2008).  Her death served to call out to others whose identity has become repressed from the power of institutions (Castiglia, Interiority,).  Her death is more inspiration to others.