Revoluciones y revelaciones: una arqueología de la imaginación política del siglo XIX en México

Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationship between written and visual culture and three revolutionary movements inspired by unorthodox appropriations of Christianity in nineteenth century Mexico. Offering close readings and interpretations of a diverse array of cultural artifacts- from novels, newspapers, and pamphlets to pre-Hispanic objects, maps, and photographs- the dissertation examines the different ways in which culture represents, expresses, and sometimes contributes to the struggle for social transformation. The study moves away from the overpowering presence of the Mexican Revolution in Latin American Studies to trace the multiple meanings ascribed to the word "revolution" throughout the 19th century. "Revoluciones y revelaciones" offers an innovative approach to indigenous studies by accounting for the fluid interactions between indigenous knowledges and Western discourses of equality, religion and justice that circulated at the time in Mexico.

The dissertation is divided into three chapters, each of which focuses on a revolutionary episode of Mexican history. The first chapter focuses on the writings of Servando Teresa de Mier in the context of the Spanish American Independence and explores the links between emancipatory political thought and the emergence of archaeological knowledge stemming from the findings of the Aztec Sunstone and the Coatlicue (1790). The second chapter analyzes the silences and gaps that constitute the main narrative of the Caste War (1847-1901). By comparing Severo del Castillo and Pantaleón Barrera's novels, Antonio Garcia Cubas's maps, and the writings of explorers and archaeologists like Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, as well as documents written in yucatec maya by indigenous rebels, this chapter challenges and questions the marginal place that has been assigned to the Caste War in "National history". The final chapter studies the Yaqui and Tomochic rebellions (1891- 1892/ 1896) and their connections to spiritualist and mystic practices by considering the writings on and images of Teresa Urrea, the Saint of Cabora. This chapter focuses on the textual and visual representation of death and its multiple functions and uses in revolutionary struggle.