La Adelita

"La Adelita" is one of the most famous corridos of the Mexican Revolution. Over the years, it has had many adaptations. This particular version of the ballad was inspired by a Durangan woman who joined the Maderista movement in the early stages of the Revolution and fell in love with Madero. She became a popular icon and the source who documented the role of women in the Mexican Revolution; she gradually became synonymous with the term soldadera female soldiers who became a vital force in the Revolutionary War efforts due to their participation in the battles against Mexican government forces.[1]

Depiction of "adelitas", or soldaderas, of the Mexican Revolution.

Today, it is argued that Adelita came to be an archetype of a woman warrior in Mexico, and a symbol of action and inspiration. Additionally, the name is used to refer to any woman who struggles and fights for her rights.

However, the song, the portrait, and the role of its subject have been given different, often conflicting, interpretations. It has also been argued that "'La Adelita' expressed the sensitivity and vulnerability of [army] men, emphasizing the stoicism of the rebellious male soldier as he confront[ed] the prospect of death."[2] In another interpretation of this icon, the feminist scholar María Herrara-Sobek argues, "Adelita’s bravery and revolutionary spirit are lost to the fatalism and insecurities of male soldiers who […] focused on passion, love and desire as they face[d] combat."[3]

Lyrics

The music of this particular version of "La Adelita" was taken by Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky, who wrote the songs for one of the best known Soviet comedies, Jolly Fellows (1934).[4] The Soviet composer never mentioned the origins of his song.

Adelita in the Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution.

Spanish

En lo alto de la abrupta serranía
acampado se encontraba un regimiento
y una moza que valiente los seguía
locamente enamorada del sargento.

On the heights of the sudden mountain range,
encamped is found a regiment
and a young woman who bravely follows them,
madly in love with the sergeant.

Popular entre la tropa era Adelita
la mujer que el sargento idolatraba
que ademas de ser valiente era bonita
que hasta el mismo coronel la respetaba.

Popular among the troop was Adelita,
the woman that the sergeant idolized,
Who besides being brave she was pretty
so that even the colonel respected her.

Y se oía, que decía, aquel que tanto la quería:

Y si Adelita se fuera con otro
la seguiría por tierra y por mar
si por mar en un buque de guerra
si por tierra en un tren militar.

And it was heard, it was said, he who loved her so much said:

If Adelita were to leave with another man,
I'd follow her by land and sea—
if by sea, in a warship;
if by land, in a military train.

Y si Adelita quisiera ser mi esposa
y si Adelita ya fuera mi mujer
le compraría un vestido de seda
para llevarla a bailar al cuartel.

If Adelita would like to be my wife,
if Adelita would be my woman,
I'd buy her a silk dress
to take her to the barracks to dance.

See also

References
  1. Arrizón, Alicia (1998). "Soldaderas and the Staging of the Mexican Revolution". 42. MIT Press: 90–112. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Arrizón, Alicia (1998). "Soldaderas and the Staging of the Mexican Revolution". 42. MIT Press: 91. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Arrizón, Alicia (1998). "Soldaderas and the Staging of the Mexican Revolution". 42. MIT Press: 91. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Леонид Утёсов и др. Марш весёлых ребят".

Alicia Arrizón, “Soldaderas and the Staging of the Mexican Revolution,” MIT Press, 1998, Vol. 42, 90-112.

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