Inkin‘, Taggin‘, Flashin‘, and Flowin‘: Defining Group Identity Through Mara Salvatrucha Expressive Culture DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Alejandro Hernández Jacky Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Richard Gordon (Advisor) Dr. Laura Podalsky Dr. Abril Trigo Copyright by Alejandro Hernández Jacky 2012 Abstract This dissertation asserts that the expressive culture of the trans-national street gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), helps to account for the unprecedented expansion of the organization. I examine how their tattoos, graffiti, and rap consolidate allegiance and strategically engage with the outside world. MS-13 expressive culture, much like nationalistic culture, manipulates insiders‘ and outsiders‘ understandings of the group. Such activities help designate MS-13 members as ―citizens" of a Mara Nation, and encourage members to consider their affiliation with the gang preeminent, trumping religion, family, ethnic group, or politically defined country. I examine MS-13 expressive culture as what Patrick Colm Hogan calls ―techniques of nationalization,‖ which work to promote the importance of the nation or equivalent social group above other associations, often with the aim of making that group important enough to kill and die for. Special emphasis is placed on how their expressive culture challenges the often-sensationalized media depictions of the gang. This approach to Mara Salvatrucha culture and group identity enables us to understand better how this hermetic gang has grown to become one of the most feared and powerful organizations in the world. ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to Beatriz, Xavi, Heidi, Evey, Bailey and most importantly, to my father, Alejandro, who had confidence, even when I did not, that I would last all fifteen rounds. iii Acknowledgments The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese for their extended support. This thesis would have never been completed without the encouragement and devotion of Laura Podalsky, Abril Trigo, Rebecca Haidt, Fernando Unzueta, Ulises Zevallos-Aguilar, Ileana Rodríguez, Jan Macián, Rob Robison, and Judy Manley. A special debt is owed to Richard Gordon, whose patience, guidance, and advice will prove invaluable for the rest of the author‘s life. iv Vita June 1993 .......................................................Alief Hastings High School 2002................................................................B.A. Spanish, University of Houston 2004................................................................M.A. Spanish, University of Houston 2004 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate/Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Spanish and Portuguese v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ...................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 An Introduction to Mara Salvatrucha and Their Expressive Culture ................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Theoretical Framework and Research Methodology .............................................. 14 1.3 Chapter Organization .............................................................................................. 28 1.4 Images for Chapter One .......................................................................................... 40 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 41 ―Only God and MS-13 Can Judge Me‖: Mara Salvatrucha Tattoos and the Consolidation of the Mara Nation ............................................................................................................ 41 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 41 vi 2.2 Categorial Identities Written in Ink and Blood ....................................................... 44 2.3 ―Above your mother, God. But nothing above Mara Salvatrucha‖: Etching Out a Mara Nation................................................................................................................... 52 2.4 The Importance of Being Seen: MS-13 Tattoos as Salient Indicators of the Mara Nation ............................................................................................................................ 55 2.5 Blood In, Blood Out: Mara Tattoos as Symbols of Community Permanence ........ 60 2.6 Devils, Skulls and Facial Mutilation: Mara Salvatrucha Tattoos, Opposability, and the Imaginary of Violence ............................................................................................. 70 2.7 ―My mara is my life‖: Mara Salvatrucha Tattoos, Affectivity and Functionality... 89 2.8 Images for Chapter Two ........................................................................................ 100 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................... 114 Skin and Ink, Cement and Paint: MS-13 Graffiti and its Expressive Connection to Tattoos ......................................................................................................................................... 114 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 114 3.2 Understanding Tagging: An Overview of Relevant Gang Graffiti Scholarship ... 117 3.3 Writing with Krylon Paint: Establishing a Mara Salvatrucha Expressive Canon . 132 3.4 Loops, Diamonds, and Straight Talk: ―Handwriting‖ in MS-13 Graffiti and Tattoos ..................................................................................................................................... 139 3.5 Representing La vida loca: The Relation of Graffiti Symbols to MS-13 Tattoos 144 3.6 ―Laugh Now, Cry Tomorrow‖: Negotiating Trauma Through MS-13 Graffiti .... 152 vii 3.7 Maybe Not Different but Certainly Original: The Connection between Mara Salvatrucha Graffiti and the Imaginary of Violence ................................................... 157 3.8 Images for Chapter Three ...................................................................................... 161 Chapter 4 ......................................................................................................................... 174 Hip-Hop is not Dead: The Emergence of Mara Salvatrucha Rap as a form of MS-13 Expressive Culture .......................................................................................................... 174 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 174 4.2 ―No Message, Just Reality:‖ Rap and Gangsta Rap Criticism and Mara Salvatrucha Rap .............................................................................................................................. 177 4.3 Uncertainty and La vida loca: An Overview of Mara Salvatrucha Rap ............... 187 4.4. Mara Salvatrucha Running Wild: Galeano el HJ and ―La mara anda suelta‖...... 196 4.5 ―We Got Guns‖ and Know How to Use Them: The Militarized Mobilization of MS-13 in Defense of the Mara Nation ........................................................................ 212 4.6 Images for Chapter Four ....................................................................................... 229 Chapter 5 ......................................................................................................................... 231 Street-Level Xenomorphs: Mara Salvatrucha Audiovisual Representation and the Imaginary of Violence .................................................................................................... 231 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 231 viii 5.2 From the Inside?: Misrepresentation, Fear, and the Perpetuation of the Imaginary of Violence in the National Geographic Channel‘s The World’s Most Dangerous Gang ..................................................................................................................................... 235 5.3 Mara Salvatrucha ―por siempre?‖ But why?: Sin nombre and the over-stylization and sensationalization of Mara Salvatrucha ................................................................ 258 5.4 ―La mara anda suelta‖: A Filmic View From Within ........................................... 277 References ......................................................................................................................