Abstract

Mexico's search for itself

Like many Chicanos, for a time in the author's youth, the author imagined a mythical Mexico, a land of revolutionaries and revolutionary Carlos Castaneda like mysticism. Mexico officially promoted this notion of itself, the essence of the nationalist revolution of 1910. The architects of national identity defined Mexico in opposition to the United States and blonds no longer bought it. Now, Mexico is fulfilling the complexity of its mestizo legacy. Mexicans are realizing there's nothing pure here, certainly not the scandal-plagued Institutional Revolutionary Party and not even the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is half Indian and half Spanish herself. Mexico's skin is white, black and a dozen shades of brown. This cultural pastiche is visible practically everywhere in the country these days, except, of course, in certain tourist centers, where the mythical Mexicaness of old is played up for the foreigner.