UC Riverside

In this study, I explore the national project of the government born from the Mexican Revolution of 1910. This national project consisted of the dissemination of an image of prosperity, economic stability, justice and equal rights for all Mexicans. However, during the 20th Century, different groups erupted to confront the Revolution ideology, its government, and to disarticulate the image of México imposed. The decline of this image started in 1968, which is also the moment when the crónica (chronicle) emerged as a literary genre that indentified with marginal sectors in Mexican society. Also, I study how the crónica of México from the second half of the 20th Century, represents these marginal groups in its struggle for the construction of a nation that would include them. Through the theory of Homi Bhabha , who establishes that nation is a territory in dispute, I examine the representations of "el Movimiento Estudiantil" of 1968, the 1985 earthquake, and the presidential elections of 2006. In addition, I study the representation of the nation space in crónicas that register the marginal periphery of Mexico City and its struggle for the possession of the urban space. In addition, another group that has been marginalized within the national official project is women. I explore the limited inclusion of women in this national project through their access to work and their participation in society. Lastly, the indigenous movements have been the clearest events that show the failure of the Revolution and its agrarian reform. Even though there are few guerrillas, I only analyze the representations of the EZLN movement and its leader Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. The crónicas selected are by cronistas like: Carlos Monsivais, Elena Poniatowska, Alma Guillermoprieto, Cristina Pacheco, Magali Tercero, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, Juan Villoro, and Guadalupe Loaeza.