¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico

¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico

Italy has grappa, Russia has vodka, Jamaica has rum. Around the world, certain drinksâ‚¬â€¢especially those of the intoxicating kindâ‚¬â€¢are synonymous with their peoples and cultures. For Mexico, this drink is tequila. For many, tequila can conjure up scenes of body shots on CancÂºn bars and coolly garnished margaritas on sandy beaches. Its power is equally strong within Mexico, though there the drink is more often sipped rather than shot, enjoyed casually among friends, and used to commemorate occasions from the everyday to the sacred. Despite these competing images, tequila is universally regarded as an enduring symbol of lo mexicano. Â¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico traces how and why tequila became and remains Mexico's national drink and symbol. Starting in Mexico's colonial era and tracing the drink's rise through the present day, Marie Sarita GaytÂ¡n reveals the formative roles played by some unlikely characters. Although the notorious Pancho Villa was a teetotaler, his image is now plastered across the labels of all manner of tequila producersâ‚¬â€¢he's even the namesake of a popular brand. Mexican films from the 1940s and 50s, especially Western melodramas, buoyed tequila's popularity at home while World War II caused a spike in sales within the whisky-starved United States. Today, cultural attractions such as Jose Cuervo's Mundo Cuervo and the Tequila Express let visitors insert themselves into the Jaliscan countrysideâ‚¬â€¢now a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Siteâ‚¬â€¢and relish in the nostalgia of pre-industrial Mexico. Our understanding of tequila as Mexico's spirit is not the result of some natural affinity but rather the cumulative effect of U.S.-Mexican relations, technology, regulation, the heritage and tourism industries, shifting gender roles, film, music, and literature. Like all stories about national symbols, the rise of tequila forms a complicated, unexpected, and poignant tale. By unraveling its inner workings, GaytÂ¡n encourages us to think critically about national symbols more generally, and the ways in which they both reveal and conceal to tell a story about a place, a culture, and a people. In many ways, the story of tequila is the story of Mexico.
Country USA
Brand Stanford University Press
Manufacturer Stanford University Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber Illustrated
ReleaseDate 2014-11-12
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780804793070

Country	USA
Brand	Stanford University Press
Manufacturer	Stanford University Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	Illustrated
ReleaseDate	2014-11-12
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780804793070

¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico

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