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ARTISTIC VIEWS OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

Examines works that illustrate concepts of land ownership, progress, liberty and justice. Luis Bunuel's 1950 film "Los Olividados;" Mariano Azuela's 1915 novel "Los de Abajo ("The Underdogs); & two stories by modernist Latin American writers that show how the people of Mexico were divided from their natural setting and land. Problems of poverty and rootlessness among the poor. Impact of centuries of oppression, and changes in government that resulted from the Mexican Revolution.

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In the early nineteenth century the Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar had posed important questions about who the land belonged to and how progress could be reconciled with liberty and justice. But the questions remained unanswered in the societies that Bolívar's initiative had liberated. Thus, little more than a century later, the Mexican Revolution posed essentially the same questions. The government of Mexico was as corrupt as possible and the system of peonage in the country not only reduced the peasants to lives of serious want and oppression, it also undermined any hope the nation had for a modern economic system. The Mexican revolution came from many directions from the many parties who felt that they had not only been exploited by the Diaz regime but had been defrauded by its 'revolutionary' successor. Operating from the demand for land in the south to

Ed. In the early nineteenth century the Latin American liberator SimónBolívar had posed important questions about who the land belonged to andhow progress could be reconciled with liberty and justice. At the beginning, of course, he is sure thathe must have control over his own life--including ownership of the landthat provides his livelihood. "Talpa." Trans. The Indian leader Demetrio Macías is a classic case of the man whowishes to fight for his own liberation but is unsure of what thatliberation would look like. Thecenturies of oppression that have kept the peasants tied to the land,without allowing them the freedom to develop as they saw fit, could not beoverturned by the mere changes in government that resulted from the MexicanRevolution. But the confusions of the Revolution showhow the intentions of those who are fighting are diverted by the struggleitself--so much so that they have no clear notion of what they are fightingfor. They take him to "thelittle golden figure of the Virgin of Talpa"--at his fervent request--butthey do so in order to let the journey kill him--as it does (2 3).Throughout the story the three characters are identified repeatedly withthe dry, uncompromising earth and the only hope that Tanilo has in his lifeis a miraculous cure. The violence of life is endemic among the poor who are reduced tothis terrible level and the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo draws similarparallels between the harsh unforgiving nature of the southern landscape inwhich the characters in his story "Talpa" live. She plays cleverly on the generalized notion of the peasant-soldiers that the "well-dressed" segment of society has been exploitingthem. The hollowness of convention--from pretensesabout music to the pretense of her marriage--depresses her and she is neverable to keep up conventional appearances for very long. The unarticulated nature of the rebels' goals does not, however, meanthat they are not clear on the source of their problems. The anonymous rapist--a man capable of the lowest most brutal andviolent of actions--is the true spirit of oppression in these people'slives. Ojitos has beenremoved from the land which can no longer support him and his fate ismerely the most recent example of the dispossession of the people--NativeAmericans, mestizos, and the poor descendants of the European settlers--from the way of life that had always sustained them. Munguia. The Underdogs. In her strangely formal marriage she will not have children orexperience joy because, as the story shows, she and her husband inhabitworlds that are miles apart. Los Olvidados. Schade. (1915). For Brigida, just as for those who do not know it,the human connection with the natural world has been subordinated toculture. New York: Signet Classic, 1996.Bombal, María Luisa. But thequestions remained unanswered in the societies that Bolívar's initiativehad liberated. Yet she is as deeplyaffected by the music--and perhaps more so--than those around her who areshocked by her ignorance. In Bombal's story "The Tree" the author positions her characterBrigida between the people who are attached to the earth and those who livein the sphere of modern Europeanized culture. The characters in Buñuel's film live in a world that is overshadowedby the ghostly skeleton of a modern building--a symbol of interruptedmodernization--and their lives are marked by the near-complete absence ofany of the values that keep a civilization together. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1974. Yet dispossession is the fate the narratorand his sister-in-law deal out to his brother. But neither is sheallowed to live as a full human being once she has rejected the eurocentrictrappings of her class. Bombal's finest stroke inshowing the futility of the eurocentricity of Brigida's class is in thecharacter's appreciation of music. He craves her loveand, because it is never given in any fashion, his obsession with theabsence of affection allows his incestuous desire for her to flourishrather than being repressed as, in Freudian explanations, it would havebeen in the course of a normal childhood. The relationship between Pedro and his mother showshow one of the most basic of human bonds can be rendered ineffectual by thebrutality of their way of life. Whether people have been pushed off the land, impoverished by beingtied to the land, or expected to reject their heritage they have beenexploited in every instance by those who claim to want o improve conditions--usually by bringing Latin America into the twentieth century. In the horribleconditions under which these people live there is no trust, loyalty, honor,or love of any kind--the sole exception being the feelings of Ojitos, theabandoned Indian boy from the country who has simply not had enoughexposure to this world to strip himself of feeling in self defense. TheMexican revolution came from many directions from the many parties who feltthat they had not only been exploited by the Diaz regime but had beendefrauded by its 'revolutionary' successor. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1974.Buñuel, Luis, dir. This conception symbolizes the fact that Pedro can neverescape from this terrible life and will live in violence and die violently--just as he was conceived. Thus, little more than a century later, the MexicanRevolution posed essentially the same questions. The futility of his quest, the difficulties of thejourney, and the absence of any modern alternative sum up the wholecontribution of the outside world to their lives in the form of amiraculous idol. And she acts out this desirefrom the other end, punishing him by taking up with his friend Jaibo. Ultramar Films, 195 .Rulfo, Juan. George D. Once the conditions are created it takes more thangood intentions to save a rootless, impoverished people. The government of Mexicowas as corrupt as possible and the system of peonage in the country notonly reduced the peasants to lives of serious want and oppression, it alsoundermined any hope the nation had for a modern economic system. Just as the brutalact brought him into the world, so his mother's lover, his friend Jaibodespatches him from the world in order to steal the money with which thedirector has entrusted Pedro. Works CitedAzuela, Mariano. The old woman on the train repeatedly begs for helpwith a story about how a "well-dressed" man stole her belongings at thestation. In the life of his son he is balanced by the other 'outside' force,the director of the reformatory to which Pedro's is sent when his motherforces him to surrender himself. The actions of his brutal father and thevaguely well-intentioned director are complementary--one brings him intothe world through violence, the other sends him out of it by unwittinglyprovoking violence. Brigida cues her existence primarily to thenatural world but she is not stupid and is fully capable of responding towhat is important in art. Pat McNees. Their lives, in the midst of the twentieth century, arelived at medieval subsistence levels and the people's mute acceptance ofthis is a damning testimony to the ineffectiveness of the state. Trans. Pedro's mother refuses to love him or tofeel anything for him because he was the child of rape. But, as theincident with the begging woman on the train shows, their ignorance of theworld allows them to be manipulated very easily and they can fight foryears without bringing themselves any closer to any changes that mightactually help them. Pat McNees. This fairly kindly, but completelyineffectual, individual reflects the hopelessness of the very mild effortsof even the best-intentioned people in Mexican society. "The Tree." Trans. The poor have become rootless and even the most fundamentalconnections among human beings have been warped and perverted by the stressof unending poverty. Inthe surreal dream sequence Pedro's monstrous mother thrusts a handful ofraw meat at him--signifying the sexuality he desires and the violence ofhis conception. Buthis presence in the city, where he has been deliberately abandoned by hisfather, is an indication of the extent to which conditions among the ruralpeasants are reaching the same pitch of desperation. But their gullibility shows how difficult it would be for them tosay with any specificity just how or why they had been so exploited--orwhat could be done about it. In this case, however,although the people are abandoned to their lives of suffering they have notbeen physically dispossessed. E. Reforms that were fundamental and addressed the most basicissues were needed before any substantive change could take place yet thesuccessive waves of modernization merely produced more of the same sinceeconomic and social progress was always predicated on the existence of animpoverished, disenfranchised class that could be pushed and shoved in onedirection or the other as the interests of the wealthy dictated. Operating from the demand forland in the south to the demand for democracy in the north--and manygradations in between--the revolutionaries struck repeated blows in favorof liberation but with little conception of how a modern Mexican stateshould look or who should run it. Ed. Mariano Azuela's novel Los de abajo(1915) and Luis Buñuel's film Los Olvidados [The Dispossessed] (195 )demonstrate the unanswered state of Bolívar's important questions--beforeand after the Revolution. Contemporary Latin American Short Stories, 196-2 4. When Brigida decides "to be ignorant"she ceases to care who, precisely, Mozart is and "to ignore his origin, hisinfluence, the details of his technique" (186). Contemporary Latin American Short Stories, 184-94. Other stories, by the modernist Latin Americanwriters María Luisa Bombal (Chile) and Juan Rulfo (Mexico), show aspects ofthe split in the societies and cultures that either divided the people fromtheir natural setting or ruthlessly tied them to it without hope of escapeif escape should become necessary. Yet, asthese artists show, these efforts have been too few and quite futile. Rosalie Torres-Rioseco.

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