BOOK: MEXICO – 200 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
Eds: Vendula HINGAROVÁ – Sylvie KVĚTINOVÁ – Gabriela EICHLOVÁ
pages: 480
ISBN: 978-80-87378-48-9
published: December 2010
editorial: Pavel Mervart
Content:
22 articles and 4 interviews
bibliography of 240 theses about Mexico from Czech universities
bibliographic citation:
Hingarová V. - Květinová, S. - Eichlová, G. (eds.) 2010: Mexiko
– 200 let nezávislosti. Červený Kostelec, Pavel Mervart, ISBN:
978-80-87378-48-9, 480pp.
1. SECTION : HISTORY AND SOCIETY
interview with profesor of latinamerican history Josef Opatrný
I.
Intellectual issues of Mexican Independence
Gabriela Eichlová (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies )
Key words: Mexican Independence, Wars of Independence, Enlightenement, Patriotism
The main purpose of this paper is to focus on the concept of the ideological and political grounds of
the Emancipation of Mexico highlighting the religious and ideological aspects which – along with
economic and social aspects – fundamentally influenced “intellectual movements” of the
Emancipation process in the very specific context of former Spanish colonies in Latin America.
Special emphasis is placed not only on the influence of Liberal ideas and movements in European
metropolises, but also on the heritage ideas of the Enlightenment, Rationalism or Liberalism in
18th and 19th Centuries and mainly specific role of the Catholic Church and accompanying
movements like Catholic Enlightenment, Regalism or Jansenism and other phenomena (e.g.
Patriotism of Criollos or Freemasonry), because all these factors played an important role in the
process of Emancipation. The final part of this paper focuses on the background of the Mexican
Wars of Independence in the history of Mexico.
II.
Churches and the Mexican State in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
Denis Berlucz – Markéta Křížová (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies )
Key words: Cristeros, Jesuits, Catholic Church, modernization, Protestantism
The Catholic Church had already acquired a prominent place in Latin America in the colonial era.
Catholic symbols corroborated with the self-identification of the colonists. In Mexico in particular,
the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a specific importance. After independence, the Catholic
Church was perceived as competitor of the liberal governments and as barrier in the path to
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national unity and prosperity. The persecution of the Church culminated in the years 1855-61 and
1872-78. At this time Protestants came to Mexico, especially “Biblical Societies“ from the USA.
During the government of Porfirio Díaz, the Catholic Church began to recover, but the Revolution
brought about an intensification of anti-Catholicism. This caused the so -called “War of Cristeros“
between 1926-29. The competition of the Mexican state and the Catholic Church faded away after
World War II. An interest in social questions produced in the 1960s and the 1970s led to “liberation
theology“ and the greater participation of laity in the life of the Church. Protestants reacted with
the “theology of prosperity“ which also reflected the long-term social problems of Latin America.
III.
Mexican Political System and its Transformations since 1917 until present
Petra Měšťánková (University of Palackého, Olomouc)
Keywords: Institutional Revolutionary Party, democratic transition, presidentialism
The article describes the evolution of Mexican political system, especially since the adoption of the
1917 Constitution. It focuses on the foundation of National Revolutionary Party in 1929 (later
renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party) and its impact on the political system, more
concretely on the establishment of non-democratic regime. A great deal of attention is paid to the
features of non-democratic regime and to its democratization. Finally, the article then outlines the
main problems of democratic consolidation.
IV.
End of Independence? Consequences of political and economic transformation for
Mexico's foreign policy
Kryštof Kozák (Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences)
Key words: Mexican foreign policy, economy, transformation, US – Mexican relations
Mexican foreign policy has been characterized throughout most of the 20th century by its emphasis
on the principle of non-intervention in domestic affairs and by its pursuit of political as well as
economic independence with respect to potentially dominant outside powers. Dramatic
transformative processes in the 1990s led to a fundamental rethinking of state economic policies as
well as the political system itself. The chapter analyzes how these changes did affect Mexican
foreign policy, what were the most important changes and in which aspects can we observe
continuity with the previous doctrines. The findings then serve as a case study of the sources of
changes in foreign policy and allow us to better understand the nature of the complex
transformative processes that occurred in Mexico.
2. SECTION: ACTUAL SOCIETY
interview with Miguel León-Portilla
I.
The Mexican Paradox: Image and Reality in the Position of Indigenous People in
Mexico
Přemysl Mácha (University of Ostrava)
Key words: indigenous peoples, Mexico, identity, nationalism
The starting point of this essay is a seeming paradox in the position of indigenous people in
Mexico – no other Latin American country has such a large indigenous population, yet in Mexico,
when compared to many Latin American countries with a smaller number of indigenous people, the
native population enjoys only limited rights. This text attempts to find possible explanations for this
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paradox, drawing on theories of identity, ethnicity and nationalism. It examines the political, legal,
economic and cultural transformations of indigenous communities, the participation of indigenous
people in regional, state and federal politics, and the transformation of their self-understanding
and representation in the process of the formation of Mexican nationalism.
II.
Fragments of encounters among tourists, indigenous people and anthropologists in San
Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico
Pavla Redlová (Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences)
Key words: San Cristóbal de las Casas, ethnic tourism, indigenous people, ladinos
The article focuses on relations and encounters between indigenous people, tourists and
anthropologists in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, a town where the society has turned from
a Ladino majority to a very complex social setting. In the first part, the author sums up the critical
reflections on ethnographical representations, anthropological interpretations of indigenous
Chiapas and concepts of ethnic tourism. The paper then goes on to examine representations of the
indigenous people in tourism-related texts such as the Lonely Planet guide and local museums and
also provides an insight into two distinct scenes of tourist encounters (the handicraft market of
Santo Domingo y La Caridad and the central square). Its aim is to prove the applicability of
various anthropological concepts and theories to the observed situations and behaviour.
III.
Social Adaptation of Raramuri in the northwestern Mexico in the context of local
ecology
Marek Halbich (Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences)
The paper pursues, on the basis of some of my fieldwork among the Rarámuri indigenous groups
in northwestern Mexico, namely in the Ejido Munerachi, three principal aims: firstly, it briefly
outlines the development of subsistence patterns in northwestern Mexico; secondly focuses on the
analysis of the concept region de refugio (region of refuge) of the Mexican anthropologist G.
Aguirre Beltrán; and, thirdly, according to Binford´s concept of residential and logistic mobility, it
analyses the strategies of regional mobilities and four types of these mobility strategies within this
Ejido but which is valid more generally for some other indigenous groups.
IV.
Native Mexican religions and the New Age
Zuzana Marie Kostićová
Key words: New age, Castaneda Carlos, 2012 (year), millenarianism, Maya calendar
The article gives an overview of the Mesoamerican sources in the New Age movement. I use the
term ”New Age“ in its broadest sense as a number of movements and spiritualities range from the
more or less formal neo-pagan covens to the individual and unorganized eclectic spiritualities. New
Age is often inspired by exotic or ancient religions, lately including also the pre-conquest
spirituality of Mesoamerica, especially the current of 2012 millenarianism and the “Toltec”
spirituality based on Carlos Castaneda. While the first derives from a reinterpretation of ancient
Maya calendar and Maya creation myth, the second recounts the supposed personal experiences of
the author who worked as an anthropologist among the Yaqui Indians of North Mexico. He became
an apprentice of a shaman called Don Juan and was initiated in this tradition. Later he wrote a
number of books concerning his psychedelic experiences after the ingestion of several native drugs
and the worldview and magic that Don Juan taught him.
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V.
The Mexican Minority in the United States
Magdalena Sládková (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies)
Key words: Mexican American, Chicano, LULAC, U.S. Demography
In the twenty-first century,. Latinos have became the largest ethnic minority in the United States,
and people of Mexican origin form the largest percentage of the Latino group, 58%, according to
the 2000 U.S. Census. Mexican Americans have a long history of settling in the United States,
nevertheless, their disadvantaged position in American society is evident. They are usually
positioned in the working-class, have low income, and also low educational attainment. In the
1960s and 1970s, the Mexican American civil rights movement, known as the “Chicano
Movement”, decided to end the discrimination and other social problems by supporting Mexican
American nationalism. The Chicano Movement introduced Mexican Americans into politics,
initiated the creation of Mexican American studies programs at universities in the United States,
and inspired many works of art. Literary works by Mexican American authors focus on topics such
as the position of Mexican Americans within American society, gender roles, and search for
identity.
VI.
Mexican American Border: problems and perspectives
Ilona Bečicová – Eva Janská (Charles University, Faculty of Science)
Key words: U.S.-Mexico Border, international migration, illegal migration, border fence
In the last few decades, the US-Mexico border region has undergone substantial changes. Several
milion people have moved into the region and the overall character of the region was greatly
transformed. Inhabitants of both countries encounter here and there has been a rise in stress,
mainly due to the significant migration. The numbers of migrants entering the U.S. has increased to
the point where the United States Government has decided to take measures that should prevent this
rising trend. In the 1990s, the United States began to build border fences that were meant to stop
the flow of illegal immigrants. Currently, these barriers are built along roughly one-third of the
total length of the border. The region is particularly important for Mexico because of its economic
potential and the large number of people who settled there. Moreover, in this area citizens of both
countries are continuously confronted and the region has obtained very important position in the
relationship between Mexico and the U.S.
VII.
Mexico under the influence of drugs and drug policy
Vendula Beláčková (University of Economics, Prague )
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Key words: drugs, drug cartels, prohibition, violence
Mexico has the unique role of being located next to the largest drug-demand market in the world,
while the normal low Mexican drug use has been on the rise with hardly any linkage to ritual use
of halucinogens that characterizes its psychoactive substance history. Prohibition has been imposed
upon Mexico in the form of U.N. treaties, but also via indirect techniques the U.S. is using in order
to secure that Mexico will be obedient to the agreed drug enforcement strategy. Mexico of 2010 has
been suffering from the consequences of the drug war, since President Calderon declared war on
the current five Mexican drug cartels. Demonstrative violence has penetrated the public discourse,
while the actual homicide rates seem not to have risen significantly since 2006. The question
remains open whether the whole issue could be solved by legalization of illegal drugs.
3. SECTION: LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
interview with profesor of literatura Anna Housková
I.
Mexican Spanish
Zuzana Erdösová (University of Palackého, Olomouc)
Key words: Mexico, Spanish language, dialectology, normativity, lexicology
The article focuses on contemporary Mexican Spanish from both a descriptive and sociolinguistic
point of view. Mexican Spanish is seen as an inseparable part of the Hispanic world and at the
same time as an autonomous entity defined by its historical and social features. The descriptive
part presents an overview of contemporary Mexican Spanish, its lexicon (focusing especially on
the delimitation of the mexicanism) and dialectology. The sociolinguistic part brings in issues
concerning linguistic normativity.
II.
The indigenous languages in Mexico
Vendula Hingarová (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies)
Key words: Indigenous languages, Nahuatl, sociolinguistics, language policy
Today Mexico encompasses enormous linguistic diversity, where 62 to 394 indigenous languages
are spoken by six millions Mexicans. The text discusses the challenge of linguistic variation of the
several indigenous languages that have been an obstacle to properly defining the number of
languages in Mexico. Until recently, Mexico has reproduced a “one-language, one-state ideology”
that for centuries has suspended indigenous languages from public life and limited their use only
in local and family context. In 2003, the Linguistics Rights of Indigenous People was declared and
the first steps were taken in promoting the heritage of all Mexican languages. Nevertheless, the
state of the most of indigenous languages – even those with million speakers such us Nahuatl and
Yucatec Maya are still considered threatened. The complicated sociolinguistics situation of
indigenous languages is illustrated by the the Nahuatl – the best known and most widely spoken
indigenous languages. The text argues that although the colonial Nahuatl, known as Classical
Nahuatl, played an important role in defining the Mexican national cultural heritage (Mexican
language, place, names etc), the contemporary varieties of modern Nahuatl suffers the similar
symptoms of other marginalized and low status languages in public life,, education and media.
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III.
The New Mayan Literature
Hana Matochová
Key words: Mayan literature, Bilingualism, Difrasism, Mayan imagination
The New Mayan Literature follows the millenary tradition of pre-Columbian civilization, but its
main focus is to reaffirm the identity of the ethnic group nowadays. The text defines the position of
Mayan Literature within the Mexican context of the 20th century with special attention to the region
of the Yucatan Peninsula. We make a historical review of Mayan Literature, using the discovery of
America as crucial moment when ethnic identity was distorted, and stressing the function of
language in the culture-forming process. The current driving force of culture is heterogeneity as it
is the case of New Mayan Literature. This is based primarily on its bilingualism, the dual world
concept of the Mayan imagination and the poetic language distinguished by difrasisms. Inspired by
the Mayan Cultural Rebirth, the study reminds the value of poetic expression as a higher form of
communication and as opposed to more information deluge.
IV.
The ways to contemporary Mexican novels. A Mexican novel at the turn of the
millenium
Andrea Alon (Charles University, Center for Hispanic Studies )
Key words: Mexican novel, 20th century, modernism, La Onda, Escritura, female writers
The article focuses on the Mexican novel at the turn of the millenium. However, the intention of the
paper is also to analyse the contemporary novel in the context of the evolution of the Mexican novel
during the 20th century. The aim of the study is to demonstrate and to explain the main features,
inspiration, authors and texts of the current novelistic production. In conclusion, we try to evaluate
its innovation and contribution to the Mexican narrative.
VI.
The poet and the chronicler: Metaphor and irony in the historical imagination of
Octavio Paz and Carlos Monsiváis.
Markéta Riebová (University of Palackého, Olomouc)
The article analyses two different forms of literary representation of Mexico in 1968 in both Paz’s
essay Critique of the pyramid (Postscript) and Monsiváis’s chronicles Days to remember. After
pointing out the common features (the critical view of Mexican nationalist culture, the demand for
democracy, pluralism and critical thinking), it goes on to analyse the differences (the allegorical
and archetypal interpretation in Critique contrasts with the fragmentary and polyphonic collage in
Days). The analysis is supported by White’s discussion of the various modes of historical
imagination, especially the ones based on metaphor (Paz) and irony (Monsiváis). It also ponders
the relationship of the writer and his public. Paz’s work comes out of the authority of a traditional
intellectual- independent and distant. Monsiváis questions that authority and abandons the
distance. We conclude, however, that rather than being opposites, both texts come out of liberal
tradition and complement each other.
4. SECTION: CULTURE AND ARTS
interview with profesor of arts Pavel Štěpánek
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I.
Heritage Management in Mexico
Sylvie Květinová (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies)
While legal aspects of heritage management in developed countries follow the same lines of
international treaties, Mexican specificity consists in the relationship between the historical and
anthropological disciplines and art on one hand, and politics and national identity construction on
the other. This close affinity is not uncommon in Latin America and is explored also on a more
general level, as well as the role of third countries ( the USA in particular) in the scientific
development of Mexico and elsewhere. An overview of Mexican cultural heritage management and
organization, focused mainly on archaeology, is presented and accompanied with commented
description of selected sites which illustrates their position in Mexican society. Questions regarding
the protection and future social use of the Mexican cultural heritage remain largely open.
II. Mexican arts
Petra Binková – Fernanda Ayala
The authors intend to make an overview of all potential consequences in the creation of the postrevolutionary Mexican state which helped in re-defining popular stereotypes, i.e. iconography of
the peasant revolution as an efficient element to articulate various cultural, social or even political
issues. Muralists, in fact, instituted a virtual deification rite through their art by rendering the most
cherished values of a society permeated with sensitivity and its quest for an ultimate national
identity. The younger generation of radical artists disagreed with Mexican Mural Movement and
perceived it as the creed of cultural nationalism. They proposed a gradual abandonment of the
nationalistic values within popular reach by introducing the La Ruptura movement. This movement
could brought an end to the era of Mexican public art also because of series of political events, the
ramification of external artistic influences and experimentation, and because the imposition of new
models on national economical and social structure. All these aspects helped in creating distinct
conditions for further development. Consequently, the present discourse and content of Mexican art
is based on reshaping the relationship between the artist and its public. Violence and political
change seem to have open the door for dialog which is not easy to cross by existing conservatism.
III.
José Guadalupe Posada’s afterlife: Muralists rediscover the popular Mexican
printmaker
Petra Kaboňová (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies)
Key words: José Guadalupe Posada, muralism, popular art
The article aims to clarify the fact of how an anonymous painter was, after his death, converted
into the worldwide recognized printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. This series of historical events
bring us to the Muralists, who played a crucial role in this process. These artists considered
themselves propagators and followers of the Mexican tradition which was, on the one hand,
represented by an the indigenous art from the Pre-Conquest as well as the Colonial periods and, on
the other hand, was represented by the figure of José Guadalupe Posada. He was taken by the
Muralists as the main representative of the national popular art. José Guadalupe Posada died in
1913 almost forgotten, but his work lived its own life afterwards. The mural artists decided more
than seven years after Posada’s death to revive him. The study explains why and how they did so
and why they chose José Guadalupe Posada instead of other Mexican artists.
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IV.
The Mexican Collections of Náprstek Museum: Popular Art and Crafts Representing
Independent Mexico
Kateřína Klápštová (Center for Ibero-American Studies, Náprstek Museum)
Key words: Náprstek Museum, Mexican culture, popular art, collections
The article focuses on a relationship between the modern Mexican collections of popular arts and
Mexican history of the beginning of the twentieth century. The first part of the article offers a
survey of the three-dimensional artifacts of Ancient and Contemporary Mexico. They are deposited
in the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, a branch of the National
Museum. It looks at the circumstances surrounding their import into the Czech Republic and also
discusses collecting and the nature of collecting in the museum. The second part study looks at
some particular types of popular hand- made crafts in rural areas and in small towns (especially
pottery) which Mexican intellectuals and artists thought of as an important means of representing
Mexican national culture and elevated them to the category of popular art. They supported them
and used them when constructing Mexican national identity.
V.
Outline of Mexican cinema
David Čeněk (Charles University, Faculty of Arts)
Key words: Mexican cinema, new Latin American film, Mexican Revolution, independent cinema
The history of Mexican cinema belongs to the most interesting ones even in an international
context. This text presents a brief outline. The first film screenings in Mexico were taking place
from 1896. One of the most important early pioneers was Salvador Toscano. The only film from the
silent era which has acclaim up until today for its artistic quality is El autómovil gris (1921, The
Grey Automobile). The first attempts to make a sound film appeared in 1929. In the thirties, a new
generation of directors appeared who created conditions for the so-called ”golden era” of
Mexican cinema (1942-1953). The second “golden era” in the seventies is represented by names
like Felipe Cazals, Arturo Ripstein, or Paul Leduc. The nineties brought in a stream of so-called
“New Mexican Cinema” which was accompanied with important legislative and economical
changes. With the coming of the new millennium, Mexican cinema was affected with a deep crisis
which brought in a new aesthetics as well as new names.
VI.
Fifty years of Mexican Rock music (1950–2000)
Zita Straková (Charles University, Center for Ibero-American Studies )
Key words: Latino Rock, Café cantante, Hoyo fonkie, La Onda
The article deals with the history of Mexican rock music from its beginnings in the fifties when this
style was overtaken by rock and roll from the US. Mexican rock was further adapted as it was
gradually becoming a part of national culture. During the period of economic isolation of the
country, Mexican rock developed autonomously and finally a new rock style called latino rock
emerged in the nineties. The article follows the historical evolution from a social and political
perspective. It analyses the interaction between rock music culture and key historical events in the
indicated period of 1950–2000.
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