UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1d17830z Author Ramos, Ivan Alejandro Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States By Iván Alejandro Ramos A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Performance Studies And the Designated Emphasis In Women, Gender, and Sexuality In the Graduate Division Of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Brandi Wilkins Catanese, Co-Chair Professor Juana María Rodríguez, Co-Chair Professor Abigail De Kosnik Professor Melinda Y. Chen Spring 2015 1 Abstract Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States By Iván Alejandro Ramos Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Studies And the Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality University of California, Berkeley Professor Brandi Wilkins Catanese, Co-Chair Professor Juana María Rodríguez, Co-Chair This dissertation uses the concept of auditory cultures to trace how Mexican and U.S. Latina/o subjects use sound and music to articulate political dissent. “Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States” brings together the fields of performance and sound studies to show how the sonic presents a contested political arena through which transnational Latina/o artists, musicians and listening publics construct alternative sensory realms detached from national forms of belonging. I contend that non-culturally dependent forms of sound—noise, metal, punk, and 80s British music—allow individuals to approach negative affects, such as melancholia, despair, and idleness. Drawing from recent work in performance studies and queer theory on the political potentialities of negative affects, the study argues for the importance of attending to the political critiques inherent in auditory cultures and practices within both Latina/o and Latin American contexts. The first chapter analyzes Mexico City-based artist Iván Abreu’s series M(R.P.M), in which he creates playable ice-records of nationalist Mexican songs. I investigate how the pieces invite listeners into the complex history of ice in the Latin American imaginary to question contemporary calls for Mexican nationalism. The second chapter contemplates the early performances of Mexican artist collective SEMEFO and the work of underground Tijuana-based musician María y José. I argue for the ways these artists use aggressive sound to confront the unending violence that has plagued Mexico over the last few decades. My third section concentrates on performance artist Nao Bustamante and her “mariachi-punk” band Las Cucas to consider the lesbian punk scream as an ethical rejection of normative Latina and queer identity. The final chapter contemplates the phenomenon of the Latina/o fan culture around British rock star Morrissey. I show how Latina/o listening publics turn to melancholia and depression as affects that force us to reconsider relationality by questioning the nation as the site of inclusion. i Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 MELTING MODERNITIES, SOUND, ICE, AND MEXICAN OBJECTHOOD 19 CHAPTER 2 PETULANT FUTURITY: VIOLENCE AND MEXICAN MUSICAL UNDERGROUNDS 35 CHAPTER 3 DYKE CHORDS: LATINA SCREAMS AND ETHICAL BECOMING IN THE PUNK BOLEROS OF LAS CUCAS 60 CHAPTER 4 YEARS OF REFUSAL: LATINA/OS, MORRISSEY, AND THE JOYS OF MELANCHOLIA 77 CONCLUSION HEAVEN KNOWS I’M MISERABLE NOW 92 BIBLIOGRAPHY 94 ii Acknowledgments A dissertation on sound could only be written in concert with all of those people who over the years not only listened to but also, most significantly, with me. I am forever grateful to the generosity and seemingly endless patience of my committee. Juana María Rodríguez has been a tireless mentor and friend. She pushes me to always go further, lay the tears on the page. She has shared Latinidad with me in ways that continue to shape me as a scholar and a person. I don’t know what I would do or who I would be without her. On my very first day of class at Berkeley, Brandi Wilkins Catanese gave words of advice that I carried throughout my entire time in graduate school. Her endless support helped me through the most difficult times. Our conversations in office hours, across hallways, even over the phone gave me courage when I though I had none left. I hope I can one day move through academia and the world with as much kindness and brilliance as she does. Abigail De Kosnik from the very beginning believed in my ideas and convinced me that I had the ability to see this through to the end. She taught me how to be a better writer, a bolder thinker, and an exacting reader. Mel Y. Chen is a model of what scholarly generosity should look like. Her always calm and steady hand showed me how to approach thinking with the greatest of care. At the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at Berkeley I found a community that supported me and encouraged me from the beginning. I am most grateful to Catherine Cole, Shannon Jackson, SanSan Kwan, and Shannon Steen for always lending their advice and helping me start my journey as a scholar. I was also fortunate to come in with a cohort who inspired me endlessly. Omar Ricks modeled an ethical approach to scholarship and life that has influenced me beyond words. Karin Shankar showed me how to approach work with kindness and warmth. Heather Rastovac laughed with me, listened to me, and was always present in any moment of need. I am also grateful to the many graduate student colleagues in the department who made my time at Berkeley so enjoyable. I owe a great debt to Caitlin Marshall, Ashley Ferro-Murray, Sima Belmar, Scott Wallin, Takeo Rivera, Sean McKeithan, Michelle Baron, Nilgun Bayraktar, Naomi Bragin, and Khai Nguyen for all their friendship over the years. Megan Hoetger and Paige Johnson have been the greatest co-conspirators one could ask for. I am most grateful to Marc Boucai and April Sizemore-Barber for making Berkeley into a home when I first arrived and in the years beyond. Robin Davidson saved me from certain doom many more times than I can even count. I am thankful for her ability to keep so many of us sane during times of complete strife. I don’t know what I would ever do without Hentyle Yapp. Our discussions, seminars, lunches, and phone calls have been filled with laughter, critical generosity, and in the toughest times, endless care. I am beyond lucky to have him in my life. Beyond departmental walls, I found a community at Berkeley that helped me become a thinker and writer. Darieck Scott and Lyn Hejinian especially never fail to treat me as anything less than their student. Their constant belief in me helped me believe I could do it. I was fortunate to find graduate student colleagues who never failed to sustain me in seminars, meetings on campus, and beyond. I am especially grateful to Robert Alford, Giancarlo Cornejo Salinas, Manuel Cuellar, Katrina Dodson, Mark Fleming, Ianna Hawkins Owens, Katie Horowitz, and J. Finley for their constant inspiration. iii In the Bay Area I was fortunate to have a network of support that stretched beyond the academy. For an only child like me, David Francisco Vidaurre has shown me the kind of care and friendship worthy of a sibling. It is his joy in listening that animates much of this project. Geraldine Ah-Sue and Emi Kojima continuously redefine the meaning of family for me. They have selflessly supported me in ways that go beyond words. Sepi Aghdaee, Cary Cody, Harris Kornstein, and Scott Reed have individually and collectively brought endless joy into my life. They don’t know how many times they rescued me from the precipice and I look forward to our many years ahead. I am lucky to have found Raquél Gutierrez, who I look up to as a writer and friend. Adán Falcon, Xandra Ibarra, Evan Knopf have lent me their ear when it has been most needed. I have been most lucky to find a community of colleagues and scholars that have taken me in as one of their own. Joshua Javier Guzmán and Christina León are the friends one dreams of. My work is endlessly indebted to their continual engagement. Vivian Huang and Summer Kim Lee have treated me with kindness, humor. They are wonderful readers and friends. A community of scholars took me in as their own without ever asking for anything in return. Deborah R. Vargas continues to be an inspiring mentor. I hope one day I can repay the selfless generosity she has showered me with. Licia Fiol- Matta has kindly commented on this dissertation at several crucial moments and each time made the project better. Laura Gutiérrez, Marcia Ochoa, José Quiroga, and Alexandra T. Vazquez have given me endless support and words of encouragement. David Serlin and Patrick Anderson, my undergraduate mentors, continue to be in my corner in deeply enriching ways. I am thankful to all the scholars who generously read and commented on this project throughout the years. They include Julia Bryan Wilson, Joshua Chambers-Letson, Heather Love, Michael Lucey, Tavia Nyong’o, Karen Shimakawa, Karen Tongson, and Shane Vogel. José Esteban Muñoz was gracious enough to give me feedback over conversations just as this project was getting started. It is the legacy of his work and thought that propels much of this dissertation forward. This dissertation was written after a major loss. During graduate school my father, Daniel Ramos Martinez, passed away.