Description
Book SynopsisSpanning the late Porfiriato to the end of the Cardenista reforms, this is a multifaceted exploration of the production of visual narratives that offered competing interpretations of gender, class, nationalism, and internationalism that came to define modern Mexican identity.
Trade ReviewElegantly written...[Lear's] critical reading of the images is as sensitive to issues of gender as to distinctions of political affiliation and economic theory, and the study makes an important contribution to both visual culture studies and labor history. * CHOICE *
With his focus on labour, interdisciplinary approach, and deep research, Lear has produced an original historical study that not only expands our knowledge of Mexico's revolutionary and post-revolutionary eras, but one that also provides engaging insights for those who study art history and labour history as well. * Bulletin of Latin American Research *
Lear's interdisciplinary study will appeal to historians of art, labor, and twentieth-century Mexican cultural history…[
Picturing the Proletariat] further demonstrates the commitment of middle-class Mexicans—teachers, professionals, students, and intellectuals—to fight for social justice on behalf of working people. * American Historical Review *
Written in an engaging style and including a generous sampling of prints,
Picturing the Proletariat is a major contribution to Mexican cultural history, to the history of Mexican art, and to the history of working-class culture generally. It will make readers better appreciate the influences that shaped Diego Rivera’s exalted representations of the proletarian man. * Labor: Studies in Working-Class History *
[Lear's] illustrations…carry his narrative as well as the written text. His is a unique study of a popular culture in a society undergoing radical renovation. * New Politics *
A piece of lucid and informative history…a fine, original, well-crafted study of the Mexican art and artists during the radical decades of the Mexican revolution. * Latin American Research Review *
Even though [art, labor, and politics] dominate the historiography on modern Mexico, this thoroughly research and copiously illustrated book is a welcome addition. John Lear offers expert analysis of visual culture, a feature often lacking in the historical literature on labor politics...Lear's book will...reward experts and novices alike as the topic is inherently fascinating, and the illustrations exemplify the best of Mexico's proletarian art. * Hispanic American Historical Review *
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. Allegories of Work
- One. Saturnino Herrán, José Guadalupe Posada, and the Working Class on the Eve of Revolution
- Two. Workers and Artists in the 1910 Revolution
- Three. El Machete and Cultural and Political Vanguards
- Four. Consuming Labor: Revista CROM, Art Education, and La Lectura Preferida
- Five. Cardenismo, the Popular Front, and the League of Revolutionary Artists and Writers
- Six. The Mexican Electricians Union, the Art of the Strike and the Spanish Civil War
- Seven. "Unity at all costs!" and the End of Revolution
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
