Guillermo Bonfil Batalla
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Guillermo Bonfil Batalla (July 29, 1935 - July 19, 1991) was a Mexican writer who was also trained as an
ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...
and
anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
. He was director of the
National Institute of Anthropology and History National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
(INAH), General Director of Popular Cultures. He founded the National Museum of Popular Cultures. At the time of his death, he served as national coordinator of the Seminar for Cultural Studies of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta). For Bonfil Batalla, ethnological research was inextricably linked to the transformation of social reality. He was co-founder of the INAH Center for Higher Research, today the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology. In his honor the library of the National School of Anthropology and History bears his name.


Education

He graduated from Mexico's
National School of Anthropology and History National School of Anthropology and History (in Spanish (language), Spanish: ''Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, ENAH'') is a Mexican Institution of higher education founded in 1938 and a prominent center for the study of Anthropology ...
(
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia National School of Anthropology and History (in Spanish: ''Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, ENAH'') is a Mexican Institution of higher education founded in 1938 and a prominent center for the study of Anthropology and History in the A ...
)'' (ENAH) in 1957. He received his doctorate from the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
(UNAM) in 1967 with the thesis "Modernization and traditionalism. Dialectics of Development in Cholula de Rivadavia".


Professional career

He served as head of the Urban Social Welfare Center of the SSA (1957), published the journal ''Problems of Agriculture and Industry of Mexico'', was co-editor of ''Problems of Mexico'' (1958-1959), carried out anthropology work at the National Institute of Nutrition, Mexico (1960-1963), worked as an anthropologist in the Department of Anthropological Research of the INAH (1962-1968), and was interim head of the Sub-regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean of the Latin American Center for Research in Social Sciences (1965-1966). In the late 1970s, he was a visiting professor at the graduate program in Social Anthropology and the National Museum at the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public university, public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and r ...
, Brazil. He held several chairs: head and director of several seminars at the ENAH (1962-1969) and Technical Advisor of the Ethnology career (1967-1968); in those same years he was also a professor at the School of Anthropology and at the Graduate School of the Universidad Iberoamericana. He served in the Division of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the UNAM, and was advisor of Anthropology of the Division of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UNAM (1971-1972). He also was professor at the ENAH with the Interethnic Relations course (1977-1978), of the Master's Course at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) (1978) He was director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History from 1972 to 1976 and of the INAH Center for Higher Research (1976-1980) and was the founder and director of the National Museum of Popular Culture (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: '' Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares'') in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
from 1982 to 1985. He was also the co-founder of the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social''). He was head of the Directorate of Popular Cultures of the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'' or SEP). He was part of the Mexican Society of Anthropology and the Academy of Scientific Research (Mexico), the Latin American Council of Social Sciences and the Mexican Council of Social Sciences. In 1980, he participated in the fourth
Russell Tribunal The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private people's tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and ...
on the Rights of the Indians of the Americas, held in Rotterdam. In 1986, he was bestowed the Palms of Academic Merit in France. He was part of the Mexican Society of Anthropology and the Academy of Scientific Research (Mexico), the Latin American Council of Social Sciences and the Mexican Council of Social Sciences. He carried out field research work related to problems of nutrition, housing, religious organization, trade, identity, interethnic relations and economic development in rural communities and indigenous areas in Cholula, Puebla, and in the Cuautla-Amecameca-Chalco region, among others. In the last two years of his life, he worked as the coordinator of the Seminars on the Study of Culture (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''Seminario de Estudios sobre Cultura),'' and assumed a position as the director of the Directorate General of Popular Cultures in the
National Council for Culture and the Arts The Secretariat of Culture () — formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( or CONACULTA) before being elevated to ministerial level in 2015 — is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums and monuments, ...
(
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''
Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The Secretariat of Culture () — formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( or CONACULTA) before being elevated to Secretary of State (Mexico), ministerial level in 2015 — is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nat ...
''). He died July 19, 1991, aged 55 in
Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...
Borough,
Distrito Federal A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or th ...
, Mexico.


Contributions to Mexican cultural institutions

For Bonfil Batalla,
ethnological Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropology, so ...
research was inextricably linked to
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
, specifically the ways social realities change. Bonfil Batalla worked with other intellectuals such as
Rodolfo Stavenhagen Rodolfo Stavenhagen (29 August 1932 – 5 November 2016) was a German-born Mexican sociologist and anthropologist who specialized in the study of human rights and the political relations between indigenous peoples and states. He was a professor-r ...
, Lourdes Arizpe, Néstor García Canclini and
Carlos Monsiváis Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. ...
, in an attempt to promote pluri-ethnic, pluricultural, and popular cultural politics in the
Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...
. His writing and political works often denounced Mexican discourse, politics, and national institutions that attempted to construct a homogeneous national and
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
. Bonfil Batalla believed that the project of constructing a singular popular culture occurs at the expense of excluding indigenous cultures and other minority groups in Mexico. This exclusion and suppression of indigeneity in the country led Bonfil Batalla to observe that there were political mobilizations that called for increased
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
and cultural plurality. He called on national institutions to respond to this demand through the creation and renovation of the institutions themselves. As an extension of the desire to recreate national cultural institutions, during his time as the director of the INAH Bonfil Batalla promoted the renovation of the museum system by encouraging direct participation with
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
and
urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
communities. He continued this work through the development of the National Museum of Popular Culture. Bonfil Batalla's efforts to create a
museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
as an anti-hegemonic space through
ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
methods was based on his belief that museums were in a generalized crisis of
cultural elitism Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead of ...
. The museum space, according to Bonfil Batalla, produced and reinforced
hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...
power dynamics. Bonfil Batalla believed in the potential for the museum space to foster popular mobilizations and encourage different ways of conceptualizing political action.


''México Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization''

One of Bonfil Batalla’s most notable works is ''México Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization'' (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''El México Profundo, una civilización negada).'' In this book, he explores the permanence and resilience of non-colonial cultures which colonialism sought to eradicate in Mexico as well as the concept and effects of
detribalization Detribalization is the process by which persons who belong to a particular indigenous ethnic identity or community are detached from that identity or community through the deliberate efforts of colonizers and/or the larger effects of colonial ...
, which he refers to as "de-Indianization." Bonfil Batalla demonstrates the existence of two different symbolic Mexicos resulting from colonial intrusions and
hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...
. The first México is deep Mexico (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: ''México Profundo''), defined by the persistence of Mesoamerican civilization that reveals itself to national society in a variety of ways and forms together with contemporary Indigenous communities. ''México Profundo'' has permanently existed despite mainstream and nationalistic efforts in Mexico to conceal and erase its presence. Through the denial of ''México Profundo'' by mainstream Mexican society, Mesoamerican civilization has been detached from the identity of Mexicans as "something apart from ourselves, something that happened long ago in the same place where we, the Mexicans, live today. The only connection is based on the fact of ''them'' and ''us'' occupying the same territory, but in different time periods."
''México Profundo'' is formed by a great diversity of peoples, communities, and social sectors that constitute the majority of the population of the country. What unifies them and distinguishes them from the rest of Mexican society is that they are bearers of ways of understanding the world and of organizing human life that have their origins in Mesoamerican civilization and that have been forged here in Mexico through a long and complicated historical process. The contemporary expressions of that civilization are quite diverse: from those indigenous peoples who have been able to conserve an internally cohesive culture of their own, to a multitude of isolated traits distributed in different ways in urban populations. The civilization of Mesoamerica has been denied but it is essential to recognize its continuing presence.''''
The other Mexico is named the "Imaginary Mexico." It is referred to as "imaginary" because it does not actually exist, but rather has functioned as a national project of constructing a unified or "imagined" homogeneous Mexican identity. According to Bonfil Batalla, the ''
mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
'' is the embodiment of the Imaginary Mexico, as Indigenous cultures are experienced in his everyday life from the philosophical, to the ontological, and fundamentally the spiritual realms of his being yet he assumes a non-Indigenous identity. It draws inspiration from distant lands with dissimilar cultures distinct from any ‘real’ or ‘profound’ Mexican culture. The ultimate project of "Imaginary Mexico" is to uphold the dominant civilizational program geared towards Westernization. Throughout the past 500 years of history, these two Mexicos have existed in a state of ongoing confrontation. At one pole are those that align with the "Imaginary Mexico" ideology and seek to direct the country to a Western civilization program. While, at the other pole, exist those who exhibit resistance tactics rooted in
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
n ancestries, whether through silent resistance or open revolt. Bonfil Batalla asserted that this resistance can be attributed to the fact that "certain social groups have illegitimately held political, economic, and ideological power from the European invasion to the present." The illegitimate domination of these social groups emerged from "the stratified order of colonial society" and has expressed itself in the centuries since through upholding "an ideology that conceives of the future only in terms of development, progress, advancement, and the Revolution itself, all concepts within the mainstream of Western civilization." As such, ''México Profundo'' and the "Imaginary Mexico" are not merely two different alternatives "within the framework of a common civilization," but rather are two entirely different paradigms "which are built on different ways of conceiving the world, nature, society, and humankind." Any attempt at "unification" of these two opposing frameworks has only been historically characterized by the pursuit to erase ''México Profundo'' and its inherent connections to Mesoamerican civilization while disseminating ideologies upholding the "Imaginary Mexico" and Westernization. This was historically carried about by various genocidal means, such as the complete obliteration of entire groups of Indigenous people as well as, "where the labor force of the Indians was required," their social and cultural segregation. This segregation meant that some Indigenous groups were able to retain continuity despite "the brutal decline in population during the first decades of the panishinvasion." For Bonfil Batalla, indigenous cultures have, in many ways, such an omnipresent and continuous presence in Mexico that rarely are they seen for their deep and complex meanings in the scheme of historical processes that made possible their presence in social sectors that assume a non-indigenous identity. This is the result of the symbolic process of constructing the Imaginary Mexico, that works to deny and conceal Indigeneity and permanently confront the reality of ''México Profundo''. Bonfil Batalla believed that the role of indigenous peoples is so definitive in the ways it shapes Mexican culture, and will play an important role in shaping a new Mexican society. In the 1996 English version of Bonfil Batalla's work, translator Philip A. Dennis cites the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) uprising in
Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
as an event which brought ''México Profundo'' "into national consciousness," as Bonfil Batalla's conceptualization was "brought to life for millions of television viewers in Mexico and throughout the world."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batalla, Guillermo 20th-century Mexican writers Mexican ethnologists Mexican anthropologists