Avilacamachismo guided Mexican culture and politics from 1940-1946, placing Mexico among the world's leaders in the sponsorship of the arts during that period. With the election of Manuel Avila Camacho as president of Mexico in 1940, a philosophy of cultural nationalism, known as avilacamachismo and which embraced popular and high levels of culture, took root in the country. In the six years of its existence, avilacamachismo funded and supported a national film industry, a national ballet, a national symphony orchestra, art exhibits, museums, a publishing industry, and a wealth of creative citizens. In Mexico's commitment to the arts was the underlying principle of national unity.
Avilacamachismo appealed to the youth of Mexico. The movement was aimed at citizens under the age of fifty and was led by individuals in state positions who were often closer in age to forty than fifty. Artists became the basis of a mass-media effort to redefine the country's culture. Radio-aired music reinforced and encouraged a youthful and stylish redefinition of Mexican national identity which complemented and enhanced the new nationalism being built upon unity, internationalism, and industrialization. Films that portrayed values and virtues consistent with those of the avilacamachismo were subsidized.
This golden age in Mexican culture marked a time of tolerance: women, youth, opposing opinions and lifestyles were accepted in the state's quest for national unity and identity. Michael Nelson Miller holds a Ph.D. in Latin American history and is the director of the Center for Higher Education Ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas.
Southwestern Studies No. 107
ISBN 0-87404-278-X Paperback $15.00
6x9, 227 pg., endnotes, biblio 1998
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