Octavio Paz
The Search for Mexican Identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10432877 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Terry Hoy (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1982 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 370-385 |
| Publication date | 1982-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034670500046623 |
| OpenAlex | W2139551292 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
The question of national identity has been a central theme in Mexican thought since the Revolution of 1910. The writings of Octavio Paz, one of Mexico's most prominent literary figures, are an important and provocative locus for this question. The contribution of Paz to an analysis of Mexican identity must be seen in the broader context of an intellectual revolution in Mexico. This began in the late 1920's and was directed against the prevailing philosophical romanticism represented by Antonio Caso and Jose Vasconcelos. This was, in part, a protest against the anti-intellectualism inherent in an “aesthetic-intuitive” approach of these writers. But it was also the demand for a philosophical perspective more relevant to an emerging Mexican nationalism already being articulated in literature and art. The writings of the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset were of crucial importance in influencing Mexican philosophy towards realism. The key concept taken from Ortega was that of “historical perspectivism”: the view that reality cannot be grasped independently of the point of view from which it is being observed. Perspectives do not distort reality; they constitute it. Philosophy, then, is changed from something abstract and eternal to something concrete and historical. Ortega's historical perspectivism became the inspiration for Mexican thinkers who wished to develop a national philosophy and a concept of “Mexicanidad.”
Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Humanities · Identity (music · Literature · National identity · Nationalism · Perspectivism · Political science · Politics · Realism · Romanticism · Theme (computing · Cultural and Social Studies in Latin America · Law · Philosophy · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Spanish Philosophy and Literature
| Highly cited | No |
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