Shared Space: Folklife in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands (The Folklife of the West Series , Vol 1) - Softcover

Where it divides Arizona and Sonora, the international boundary between Mexico and the United States is both a political reality, literally expressed by a fence, and, to a considerable degree, a cultural illusion. Mexican, Anglo, and Native American cultures straddle the fence; people of various ethnic backgrounds move back and forth across the artificial divide, despite increasing obstacles to free movement. On either side is found a complex cultural mix of ethnic, religious, and occupational groups. In A Shared Space James Griffith examines many of the distinctive folk expressions of this varied cultural region.

James S. Griffith is an authority on Southwestern and Mexican folklore and folk art. Based in Tucson, Arizona, Griffith has written many books, including "Saints of the Southwest" and "Folk Saints of the Borderlands: Victims, Bandits and Healers". Francisco Javier Manzo Taylor is a scholar and attorney in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He has studied religious art and culture for more than 30 years.