Essay La Raza Cósmica of José Vasconcelos as the Illustration of context of Mexican nationalistic formation
Abstract
The aim of this article is to illustrate the context of formation of Mexican nationalistic discourse through the analysis of essay La Raza Cósmica. This essay, composed by an influential Mexican philosopher, José Vascoselos, who helped to shape the politics and culture of post-revolution Mexico (during the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century), may sound ridiculous and romanticizing to the contemporary reader.
However, during its time, this essay, and the ideas it presented, had a very real impact on political and cultural processes in post-revolution Mexico. The article describes the essay's influence on the policy of indigenismo, the state policy dealing with the intergration and asimilation of indigenous population into the major mestic society, its influence on post-revolution muralism, state education and 17 other important pillars of nation building and state formation.