The Sound of the Word: Music and Social Transgression in Lyric Poetry from the <span class='italic'>Colonia</span> Onward

doi:10.1017/9781108917315.004

Chapter 3 - The Sound of the Word: Music and Social Transgression in Lyric Poetry from the Colonia Onward

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2024

Jesús A. Ramos-Kittrell

Edited by

José Ramón Ruisánchez Serra ,

Anna M. Nogar and

Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado

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José Ramón Ruisánchez Serra: Affiliation:
University of Houston

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Summary

Reflecting the turn in colonial literary scholarship towards performance in relation to sound studies, this chapter examines poetry as a form of poesis that emerged as an aural aesthetic category in colonial Mexico. Taking into consideration sociocultural factors, including language, class, and caste, and the evangelizing impetus of much religious music, this exploration of sounded lyric verse explains how these forms were not limited to church settings and places, nor to colonizing sources. The chapter considers poetry as a prestige form in music, the presentation of lyric in public musical settings, and the importance of aural aesthetics to convey poesis as a performative aesthetic category of cultural belonging. Musical poetic texts examined include the romance, villancico, church music, and other popular forms of autochthonous lyrical verse. Finally, the chapter considers the continuation of poetic aural performance through the nineteenth century.

Keywords

Buen gusto race aurality music literacy New Spain

Type: Chapter
Information: A History of Mexican Poetry , pp. 55 - 77

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108917315.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

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