Propaganda, the Myth of the Revolution, and the Institutionalization of the Mexican State, 1920-1940.

Abstract

One of the most striking features of the present government in Mexico is its claim that it is the continuation of the revolution of 1910-1920. This thesis is an investigation of the historical origins, ideology, and psychological appeal of the government's revolutionary posturing--a phenomenon here termed the myth of the Revolution. It is focused on a key aspect of the myth, the hero cults surrounding four assassinated revolutionary leaders: Madero, Villa, Carranza and Zapata. These cults are examined for the period 1920-1940, when the government was in the process of developing the basic structure that it still has today. An examination of the newspapers and periodicals on the anniversaries of the heroes' assassinations from 1920 to 1940, revealed six major characteristics of the propaganda of the hero cults: the claim that the regime was revolutionary; the promotion of nationalism; the obfuscation of history; the denigration of politics; the use of Catholic imagery; the "masculinization" of the heroes' images. The propaganda functioned as a mystifying influence upon public consciousness and thereby facilitated the government's maintenance of a "revolutionary" image, even though its political and economic policies were not revolutionary. The government's promotion of hero cults (except for Villa) was in itself a powerful form of propaganda. It encouraged the social groups represented by each hero to identify with the state; it utilized patriarchal values to promote acceptance of the state's authoritarianism; and it coopted social discontent by giving it a symbolic, sexual vent via identification with the "masculinized" heroes. The four heroes, however, were not equally adequate either as symbols of revolution or of manliness. As the government grew less revolutionary, increasing social discontent led to a greater identification with the more revolutionary heroes, Zapata and especially Villa, whose images grew more masculinized as a means to retain their revolutionary appearance while nullifying their political content.