Rasquachismo, according to Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, is an instinctual response to lived conditions, particularly to the lived conditions of the working class. When one is rasquache, they are refusing defeat, they may falter, but they do not give up. It is the underdog perspective that it is rooted in resourcefulness but style and stance never falters. This attitude is alive and well in low income Chicano communities across the United States.
This attitude is built upon Mexican vernacular tradition and has evolved into a bicultural sensibility for Mexican Americans. However, in Mexico and the United States, it is associated with vulgarity and tackiness and frightens those of a higher class who find comfort in “purer” traditions.
Ybarra-Frauta states that rasquachismo is a collection of movidas that hold together an environment that is on the edge of coming apart and this is made possible through resourcefulness and resilience. This particular section reminded me of my parents. Below is a picture that demonstrates something similar to what my parents do in my home. Plastic containers are repurposed in our garden, and though the people in my neighborhood who make a bit more money than my parents often look down on it, my mom does not care because her plants are flourishing nonetheless. Rasquachismo is also demonstrated by my dad. We were not always fortunate enough to have professionals to solve issues that we had with our plumbing, for example. Despite this, we all knew that we could rely on my dad’s creativity and determination to not give up to handle the problem. Oftentimes, the way he handled problems was by no means the correct way and it hardly ever produced a permanent solution, but he was making do with what he knew and what he had. He was going to get our family by, little by little picking up the broken pieces along the way and figuring out what to do with them later.
No comments:
Post a Comment