Manuel Peña presented the inaugural Phillips Barry Lecture at 3:15 Friday, October 31, 1997, at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Austin, Texas. Mis topic was "Tejano Music of the 1990's: Regional Icon or Mass Commodity."

Peña is the author of The Texas-Mexican Conjunto: History of a Working-dass Music (U. of Texas Press, 1985). In his inaugural Phillips Barry Lecture he drew on his most recent research and analysis to expiore the tension between the iconic identity of traditional musica tejana and the largescale commoditization of contemporary Tejano music.

The talk, in part, addresses the extent to which this music serves to recenter communities around a shared sense of peoplehood and ideological purpose, and on the other band, the extent to which it has become a superorganic commodity that contributes to social indifference and decentered communities.

John H. McDowell of lndiana University and Peter Narvaez of Memorial University were the respondents.

The Philiips Barry Lecture is an invited presentation by a leading scholar of ethnomusicology, ballad, folksong, or traditional music. lt has been inaugurated by the Music and Song section to honor our pioneers and to enhance the presence of folk musical traditions at the yearly meeting of the American Folklore Society.

Seetion members made this a gala event in honor of folksong pioneer Barry and contemporary scholar Peña.