''The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity'' is a

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

, published in 2008, by Heather Levi. The book is an account of lucha libre, a term used in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for a form of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Synopsis

From Levi's perspective of the inner workings of lucha libre, Levi observes this form of wrestling as a cultural performance, an occupational subculture, and a set of symbols that circulate through

Mexican culture Mexican culture is primarily influenced by its Indigenous inhabitants and the culture of Spain. Mexican culture is described as the 'child' of both western and native American civilizations. Other minor influences include those from other regio ...

and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

. Additionally, Levi “argues that lucha libre stages the contradictions at the heart of Mexican national identity,” which include “the rural and the urban, tradition and modernity, ritual and parody, machismo and feminism, politics and spectacle.” ''The World of Lucha Libre'' is split into six chapters, described below.

Chapter 1: Staging Contradiction

Levi begins with an introductory chapter emphasizing lucha libre to be a practice of staging contradictions. In this section, Levi argues that lucha libre “occupies a space somewhere between sport, ritual, and theater and is thus capable of drawing its power from all of those genres.” The chapter offers a simple view of lucha libre; two or more wrestlers enter a boxing ring to put on a fighting show that ends only when one of them is pinned down or surrenders. Levi, however, expands lucha libre to be a “complex performance that integrates a range of ideas about agency, power, modernity, gender, and national culture.”

Chapter 2: Trade Secrets and Revelations

In this chapter, Levi explains that by immersing herself in the practice of lucha libre the secrecy of how a luchador is made was revealed to her. In this section she observes that everyone seems to know that outcomes of lucha libre matches are predetermined, yet emphasizes a secretive element that is said to be unplanned. In her practice as a luchadora, she continues the discussion of lucha libre being fixed, while expressing that she felt the wrestling was real. In the end of the chapter, Levi explains that “secrecy itself is a structuring feature of lucha libre,” and concluded that it is not the secrets, but the secrecy itself that is important in the sport.

Chapter 3: Of Charros and Jaguars: The Moral and Social Cosmos of Lucha Libre

This chapter looks at the perspectives of lucha libre as both an athletic sport and as a spectacle of good vs. evil, or tecnicos (good guys) vs. rudos (bad guys). Levi addresses that lucha libre is a complex cultural performance consisting of three levels: the life world, the performance, and the played out "socially marked characters." The chapter proceeds to discuss the life of lucha libre within the context of the body and self-representation of a luchador/a. The aspects of the performance involve play-roles that range from socially marked characters to animals (e.g. jaguars) and elemental forces (

Tinieblas Manuel Leal (born June 8, 1939), better known as Tinieblas ("Darkness"), is a Mexican luchador. Professional wrestling career Tinieblas began as a body builder and stunt man who was spotted by luchadores Black Shadow and Dory Dixon. Impressed ...

Darkness Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low ...

), but also mass media cultural images, such as El Zorro. Lucha libre arena

Chapter 4: The Wrestling Mask

In this chapter Levi presents the

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

as a national culture embodiment and contributor to the idea of culture and

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

. The mask, Levi explains, offers a liberty for the luchador/a to “embody a critical role” of empowerment. Without the mask the luchador/a would be unable to “convert to a national or regional” symbol. The empowerment of the mask reflects a “political theater” for the social wrestler, termed the “lucha social”. The idea is that the social wrestler acts as an agency for a lucha, or struggle within Mexican politics, in secrecy, and behind a hidden mask.

Chapter 5: A Struggle Between Two Strong Men?

This chapter discusses

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

and “marianismo” as forms of gendered representation that are contested in the ring. Levi critiques the idea of traditional roles that depict “ a romantic notion of the macho as the real, earthly Mexican, indifferent to risk, indifferent to death.” In lucha libre male representation is extended to homosexuality, and women fought for acceptance as "luchadoras." The chapter discusses one distinction between Mexican professional wrestling and wrestling in the U.S.;

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

are less sexualized and are more often regarded as professional athletes.

Chapter 6: Mediating the Mask: Lucha Libre and Circulation

In this chapter Levi addresses what it means for "''professional wrestling to be vulgarized''" as a televised sport. Televised matches were short lived after they reached the courts and were banned to protect underaged viewers. Levi implies that there may have been other reasons for the banning, but the ban expanded luche libre into cinema. Once luche libre reentered the televised spectrum it entered a popular tradition that conflicted with "neoliberal economics or cultural authenticity" and opposed the once vulgar and corrupt aspects luche libre had among a less mass audience.

Publication

Duke University Press published ''The World of Lucha Libre'' in October 2008 as part of the American Encounters/Global Interactions series, edited by Gilbert M. Joseph and

Penny Von Eschen Penny Marie Von Eschen is an American historian and Professor of History and William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American Studies at the University of Virginia. She is known for her works on American and African-American history, American diplomacy, ...

. The book is available in Kindle, hardback and paperback formats.

References

External links

Heather Levi departmental listing at Templ

{{DEFAULTSORT:World of Lucha Libre Lucha libre Professional wrestling books 2008 non-fiction books Duke University Press books