African Mexicans and the Discourse on Modern Nation Contributor(s): Cuevas, Marco Polo Hernández (Author) |
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ISBN: 0761828583 ISBN-13: 9780761828587 Publisher: University Press of America OUR PRICE: $50.48 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 2004 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General |
Dewey: 972 |
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.4" W x 8.4" (0.40 lbs) 136 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Ethnic Orientation - Latino |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In African Mexicans and the Discourse on Modern Nation, author Marco Polo Hern ndez Cuevas explores how the Africaness of Mexican mestizaje was erased from the national memory and identity and how national African ethnic contributions were plagiarized by the criollo elite in modern Mexico. The book cites the concept of a Caucasian standard of beauty prevalent in narrative, film, and popular culture in the period between 1920 and 1968, which the author dubs as the "cultural phase of the Mexican Revolution." The author also delves into how criollo elite disenfranchised non-white Mexicans as a whole by institutionalizing a Eurocentric myth whereby Mexicans learned to negate part of their ethnic makeup. During this time period, wherever African Mexicans, visibly black or not, are mentioned, they appear as "mestizo," many of them oblivious of their African heritage, and others part of a willing movement toward becoming "white." This analysis adopts as a critical foundation Richard Jackson's ideas about black phobia and the white aesthetic, as well as James Snead's coding of blacks. |