Joaquin Murietta, a Mexican folk hero, began in the late 1800's as a character in the novel The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murietta by John Rollins Ridge. Ridge's character was popular, and did not end with his novel. Joaquin Murietta became a character in exciting newspaper stories throughout the 19th century. Eventually the character Joaquin took to the big screen in the Western "Murieta." The progression of Ridge's character from book to newspaper to movie screen is fascinating, but not what makes this an interesting project idea. What makes Joaquin Murietta digital humanities project worthy, is the use of the character as a symbol of freedom during the Chicano movement in the 1960's. I would hope that this DH project might highlight the importance of pop culture figures, and the way that they become much larger and more important than the author might have originally intended. I also would want to create more interest in chicano/a/x literature. My aim would be to make a timeline for the character out of the content UNT already hosts, along with research done on Ridge, and the use of Joaquin Murietta as a figure for the Chicano movement.
Ideally UNT would sign on and host my project. Another route to consider would be a blog, or website geared toward the digital humanities, possibly HASTAC. Something I would find important in either being hosted by UNT or any other website would for the project to have it's own specific URL in order to make it easier to find.
Ideally a team of five people total would work on this project. One partner with knowledge of web design and aesthetics- nice color scheme, font, etc.. Other collaboration would include scholars with interest in both Literature and History.
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