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In
the article "Mexico: Revolution and Stability" (by Williamson) there's
a sense of the forthcoming of the Mexican Revolution. There are disagreements
within the government and the mentioning of two parties: the caudillos
and the cientificos. The presence of these two groups is important
because they represent (and speak for) the people. In our second article,
“Diaz Elects a governor,” the mentioning of the caudillos and the cientificos
is further elaborated, as well as what might have led to the Mexican Revolution.
Your task for this assignment is twofold. One. Based on the article, “Mexico:
Revolution and Stability”, provide your understanding of caudillos and
cientificos and come up with an analogy (comparison) of these two groups. If
you wish, you may want to look at your native country to come up with this
analogy. Two. In “Diaz Elects a governor” the mentioning of the caudillos and
the cientificos is further elaborated, as well as what might have led to the
Mexican Revolution. For this assignment, respond to the following comment
made by Womack: “The Mexican Revolution happened because the high politicians
of the country openly failed to agree on who should rule when President
Porfirio Diaz died. These politicians, nicknamed the cientificos, believed in
a natural law that the nation could progress only through their control and
for their benefit” (page
10).
Based on our first two readings, including our syllabus, what do you think of
Womack’s remarks?
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“I
AM FROM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IF YOU WANT TO USE LIKE AN EXAMPLE
Mexican
culture is very strong and their past political system is similar to my home
country's. The Dominican Republic was also ruled by a dictator
named Rafael Leonida Trujillo”.
“These are
the two first reading that is include on the syllabus”
i. Art and its place within
the Twentieth Century: Europe, North America and Mexico
The twentieth century (1900) was to be the “Modern
Century,” for great developments occurring so rapidly in every sphere —science,
technology, medicine, psychology, architecture, invention— would transform the
human condition. The century quickly delivered its wonders (the internal
combustion engine, X-rays, powered flight), having an impact on the arts: former
ideas of reality and representation[1]
were questioned. Paris was the
laboratory of ideas in the arts; it was the city where manifestos, wild
exhibitions and public outrages could only occur. The modern century, however,
would later experience the collapse of European empires, Revolutions and World
Wars[2].
Barbara Haskell has observed the following about the
United States:
[The country] entered the twentieth century with a
youthful confidence about its place in the world. American technological
ingenuity and manufacturing efficiency had made the country the world’s largest
industrial power and showcase of electricity and steel production. In no other nation were
cities so dazzling illuminated or so assertively vertical; nowhere else was
the revolution in communications and transportation so pervasive. Unparalleled economic
prosperity among the wealthy elite had given a handful of Americans the
highest standard of living in the world. At
the same time, the nation assumed a more global and imperialist outlook with its
victory in the Spanish-American War (1898) and the acquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam,
Hawaii, and the Philippines.[3]
North American artists
certainly reflected this prosperous reality; the nation was indeed in the age
of confidence.
Some Latin American countries at the beginning of the
twentieth century looked forward to comfortable futures based on continuing
primary exporting. But this “prosperous future” would not last long; in the
capitals of some of the most prosperous countries (Argentina, Mexico, Chile) a
labor organization soon emerged, creating a class conflict. Thus, Latin America
experienced its first social revolution: the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
ii. The Mexican Revolution
and a revolutionary art: mural painting (Mexican muralism)
The Mexican Revolution began with the 1911 overthrow of
the Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915). Diaz had ruled the country
continuously since 1877; during this period Mexico experienced a steady
economic development, moving towards modernization. But the only beneficiaries
of this “economic development” had been the creoles[4]
(white Mexicans) and the foreign investors whom Diaz had drawn into the
country. Although Diaz was himself a mestizo[5],
the peasant[6]
community gained little from his regime. The peasant and the middle-class
population outside this economic growth finally realized that they also wanted
their share.
During the
presidency of Alvaro Obregón (1920-24) the great Mexican muralists Diego Rivera
(1886-1957), José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) and David Alfaro Siqueiros
(1896-1974) came into the scene. JoséVasconcelos, minister of education,
commissioned[7]
the muralists to depict on every public wall of the country the just experience
of the Mexican Revolution. Their art was to consolidate a state ideology of
common citizenship and progressive nationalism. The idea of Revolution
encouraged the Mexican people to envision -for the first time since
independence- a nation of unity.
Furthermore, the Revolution
was to recover the heritage of the Aztecs and the Maya[8];
the true Mexican identity would be accomplished from the fusion of Indian and
Spanish traditions: every person would deservea dignified place within the new Mexico.
[1]Since this course deals with
art (mural painting), we should think about the role art plays in our lives: do
we simply express through art -whatever its manifestation may be (writing, painting,
singing, dancing)- our emotions? At the beginning of the century art -and its
intention- was defined by many isms:
cubism, futurism, abstractionism, muralism.
[2]That is, World War I
(1914-1918) and WW II (1939-1945). Some European empires (in Austro-Hungary, in
Russia and in Germany) collapsed or experienced a revolution.
[3]Taken from her book, The American Century: Art and Culture
1900-1950.
[4]That is a descendant of
Spanish or other European settlers.
[5]That is a person of mixed
race. In this case, Diaz was the offspring of a Spaniard and an American
Indian.
[6]A peasant is a poor farmer
of low social status who owns or rents a small piece of land for cultivation.
In Mexico when one speaks of a peasant, one often refers to an indigenous
person (an American Indian).
[7]Artists, in this case the
muralists, were ordered to produce works of art -with an intention.
[8]Aztecs and Mayas were the
native Indians. They comprised Mexico’s population before and during the
Spanish arrival.
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