Narratives of Violence and Tales of Power: The Work of Jorge González Camarena, the History of the Castillo de Chapultepec, and the Establishment of the National Museums in the Project of Mexican Nationalism

Abstract

In the project of nationalism in Mexico, the governing bodies acted out a deliberate process of reclamation of the histories and mythologies of Mexico for the purpose of state programming, and for the development of an official narrative of nationality. In my thesis, I trace the effects of nationalism by first looking into a history of power in Mexico as articulated through the adaptive reuse, over centuries, of the Castillo de Chapultepec building. This building has housed the National Museum of History (Museo Nacional de Historia) since the early 1940s, and has played a prominent role in the construction and perception of national identity in Mexico. Second, I examine the development of the national museums in Mexico as an official method of nation and culture building, as traced through the work of Jorge González Camarena that has been included on a national stage. Third, I examine the painting La Fusión de Dos Culturas, painted by Camarena in the early 1960s, within the context of the 1960s historical exhibitions in the National Museum of History, establishing the important role that Camarena played in the official project of nationalism