New Book on the Texas Borderlands: Harriett D. Romo & William A. Dupont
Bridging Cultures: Reflections on the Heritage Identity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands
Edited by Harriett D. Romo and William A. Dupont
Contributions by Daniel D Arreola, Enrique X de Anda Alanis, Jesús F. De la Teja, Margaret Dorsey, Stephen Fox, John Phillip Santos, Daniel J. Gelo, Gabriel Aguilar, Patricia Sánchez-Gil, Melinda Vargas, Ricardo Romo and Miguel Díaz-Barriga
Pancho Villa with General “Blackjack” Pershing in the palm of his hand. From Bridging Cultures book. Mural at Cassiano Homes, San Antonio. Photo: Ricardo Romo 1983.
978-1-62349-975-4 Cloth
6.12 x 9.25 x 0 in
360 pp. 25 color, 21 b&w photos. 4 maps. 2 tables. Bib. Index.
PRE-ORDER
Cloth$45.00
Borderlands: they stretch across national boundaries, and they create a unique space that extends beyond the international boundary. They extend north and south of what we think of as the actual “border,” encompassing even the urban areas of San Antonio, Texas, and Monterrey, Nueva León, Mexico, affirming shared identities and a sense of belonging far away from the geographical boundary.
In Bridging Cultures: Reflections on the Heritage Identity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, editors Harriett Romo and William Dupont focus specifically on the lower reaches of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo as it exits the mountains and meanders across a coastal plain. Bringing together perspectives of architects, historians, anthropologists, sociologists, educators, political scientists, geographers, and creative writers who span and encompass the border, its four sections explore the historical and cultural background of the region; the built environment of the transnational border region and how border towns came to look as they do; shared systems of ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, norms of behavior, and customs—the way of life we think of as Borderlands culture; and how border security, trade and militarization, and media depictions impact the inhabitants of the Borderlands.
Romo and Dupont present the complexity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands culture and historical heritage, exploring the tangible and intangible aspects of border culture, the meaning and legacy of the Borderlands, its influence on relationships and connections, and how to manage change in a region evolving dramatically over the past five centuries and into the future.
Summerfield G. Roberts Texas History Series
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HARRIETT D. ROMO has recently published A Bilateral Perspective on Mexico–US Migration. Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she directed the university’s Mexico Center from 2006 until her retirement in 2019. WILLIAM A. DUPONT, the Conservation Society of San Antonio Endowed Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a licensed professional architect, directs the university’s Center for Cultural Sustainability.