Apes already taken, Anthropologist Studies Luchadores Instead

All joking aside, Temple University Anthropologist Heather Levi takes an in-depth look at the world of Lucha Libre from behind the scenes in her latest book: The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity, Duke University Press.

From the Book Advertisement:

"The World of Lucha Libre is an insider’s account of lucha libre, the popular Mexican form of professional wrestling. Heather Levi spent more than a year immersed in the world of wrestling in Mexico City. Not only did she observe live events and interview wrestlers, referees, officials, promoters, and reporters; she also apprenticed with a retired luchador (wrestler).

"Drawing on her insider’s perspective, she explores lucha libre as a cultural performance, an occupational subculture, and a set of symbols that circulate through Mexican culture and politics. Levi argues that the broad appeal of lucha libre lies in its capacity to stage contradictions at the heart of Mexican national identity: between the rural and the urban, tradition and modernity, ritual and parody, machismo and feminism, politics and spectacle."

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