MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

EL JACALITO: IMAGES OF THE JACAL IN TEXAS

The jacal is a folk structure which is built out of natural, locally-found material. Examples of material used to construct the jacal in Texas included mud, clay, adobe, mesquite wood, river grass, cane, stones, and brick rubble. Originally imported to Texas from Central Mexico, the jacal was in widespread use in Texas during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Various records document the jacal from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, including Spanish colonial administrative and military reports, U.S. military reports, newspaper accounts, memoirs, travel narratives, historical writings, art and photographs. Actual use of the jacal diminished quickly beginning in the 1880s due to changes in the natural environment and material life of Texans, and the negative social value attached to the structure. By the middle of the 20th century, the actual jacal seems to have disappeared altogether. Nevertheless, the jacal communicates social and cultural meaning now, as it did before.

Especially during the nineteenth century, the jacal became defined as a uniquely Mexican structure by non-Mexican writers, although this was not, in fact, the case in Texas. In newspaper articles, soldier's tales and travel narratives, Anglo-Americans and other writers portrayed the jacal as a primitive, frail, unsanitary and, even, immoral structure--the same way that they tended to view all Mexican customs. This negative view of Mexican culture helped to justify political, social and economic domination by Anglos over the native Mexican population in Texas. Anglo Texans' monopoly of commercial material and economic resources further helped to maintain and reinforce Texas Mexicans' use of the jacal structure.

Four types of primary documents recorded the "Anglo" view of the jacal during the late 19th century--contemporary newspaper accounts, works of history, memoirs and travel narratives. Newspapers published articles describing the Mexican jacal and its associated social life. New immigrants and travelers recorded their impressions of Texas life in published and unpublished narratives. Publications such as Cockrell's Texas-Mexican International Railroad View Album and Stark's Views of Texas not only documented the jacal, but also commented upon Texas Mexican life during that period.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, images of Mexican life and customs were created for consumption by tourists, business investors and other patrons. The diffusion of jacal iconography, along with other images, further solidified the image of Mexican culture. Photographs and paintings document the jacal, as well as augment the information provided by written sources.

Even as use of the jacal was diminishing, it's image underwent a process of "romantization." Particular views of the jacal are revealed in academic and public history projects, and in stories collected by folklorists such as J. Frank Dobie, Jovita Gonzales, Fermina Guerra, Americo Paredes and others. Mexicans and Mexican Americans evoked images of the jacal in illustrations, folklore and songs. Cultural meaning can also be extrapolated from jacal imagery in Mexican almanaques (annual calendars), and the restaurant theme of "El Jacalito." These cultural projects demonstrated attempts to reclaim cultural dignity and promulgate the social and political values of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. From this perspective, the jacal was viewed as a strong, durable, efficient and natural structure.

Divergent images of the jacal can be used to illustrate different perspectives on the social and historical processes of cultural contact, conflict, assimilation and change in Texas. These dis- tinct perceptions may represent parallel visions of Texas culture and society that continue even today.

End of Article

Updated: 10 Nov 1995



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