Mexica Movement

[ROBERT SCHWALLER]

I would have to agree with Dr. Karttunen. While I agree with your paper's
assertion that identity can be both imposed on an individual or a group or
constructed independently. The problem I see with the paper is that it fails to
recognize that even identities which may have been created by dominant elites
may in later times become modified and reapproproiated. The concept of a
mestizo identity is very interesting in this regard. During the colonial period
it was created by the Spanish to describe individuals of mixed Iberian and
indigenous descent. It did serve to distinguish these individuals from their
indigenous relatives. However, by the early 20th century, the intellectual
elite of Mexico had successfully reimagined the Mexican national identity as
being mestizo. Was this the same as the earlier Spanish colonial label? No,
obviously not, the major goal of this new mestizo identity was the valorization
of both European white culture AND native indigenous culture. Jose Vasconcelos
argued that Mexicans were "la raza cosmica" because of this unique blending of
culture and heritage.  Was this new mestizo identity hegemonic? Yes, the
intellectual and political elite of Mexico, many of mostly European descent,
chose to construct this identity in order to counter largely European
assertions that as a nation of mixed-race individuals Mexico was inherantly
weak. This new formulation of the Mexican mestizo nation has been rather
successful in insuring the continued survival of indigenous culture within the
nation, because without its connection to indigenous groups, their culture, and
their past there could be no indigenous element. For example INAH, Instituto
Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, focuses far more of its archaeological
time on indigenous sites than on colonial ones because of the importance that
indigenous culture plays for the continuation of a mestizo identity. What your
paper fails to realize in this is that the modern Mexican mestizo identity is
in fact a construction intended to counter European racism and discrimination.
While certainly it does not leave much room for individuals of entirely
indigenous descent it does acknowledge the cultural inheritance of indigenous
groups and has helped to improve their position within the Mexican nation and
consciousness. As anyother identity it is mutable an will change. Your paper
needs to recognize that even imposed identities may be reappropriated overtime.

Rob 

Robert Schwaller

Ph.D. Candidate
Penn State - Dept. of History
105 Weaver Bldg.
University Park PA, 16801