Selena's popularity to be examined, explained

By Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) - Pamela Meyer first realized how strong of a spell Selena still holds over her fans when the slain Tejano queen was remembered at the Houston Livestock Show.

Meyer saw it again last month when 12,000 people tried out for parts in a planned movie about Selena's life. A third example was the massive turnout at Selena's gravesite on the anniversary of her death.

Fascinated by it, Meyer - a sociology professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi - has joined with two colleagues to study how and why Selena has become more popular in death than she was during her 23 years.

The researchers have tentatively titled their project "The Social Construction of Martyrdom: The Case of Selena Quintanilla-Perez." They hope to have it completed in about a year.

The study of the making of a folk legend will examine how society "creates (cultural or folk) martyrs out of their citizens," said Bilaye Benibo, an assistant professor of sociology.

The university has given some funding for the study, and a research grant is being sought so the professors can take time off from teaching to focus on it, Meyer said.

Meyer said the published results of the study may help sociologists better understand "the deification of Elvis or John Lennon or Martin Luther King," each of whom has become idolized after their death.

Selena was shot to death on March 31, 1995, at a Corpus Christi motel. The former president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, was convicted in the slaying.

After deciding to do the study, Meyer sought help from Benibo and Javier Villarreal, associate professor of Spanish.

Villarreal's expertise is in ethnic studies and linguistics. He also teaches a course in Tejano music at A&M-Corpus Christi.

He said she was the perfect candidate for folk martyrdom among the Hispanic culture because of everything from her personality to her musical talent.

"Her performances and music took the Mexican-American culture out of the barrios and directly into the international scene. We felt we were a part of that. And even though she died, we still see ourselves as part of that process."

There is one thing for the professors to beware, says Manuel Pena, an ethnomusicologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

Pena warns that such a study must stay clear of Selena's image as a true folk hero to those who have kept alive her memory for commercial gain.

"Selena is both a cultural hero and fabrication of the commercial market," Pena said. "I would expect academics to take note that both aspects are at work here."

Meyer said the group is aware of the commercialization of Selena and she said it will play a role in the study.