Icons of Revolution

Constructions of Emiliano Zapata in Prints of the Mexican Revolution

Theresa Avila

The Mexican Revolution erupted in 1910 in response to an oppressive thirty-year dictatorship under José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz (1876–1910). Aggressive development during the Porfiriato resulted in modernization and economic growth in Mexico, but progress came at a high cost. The Porfirian regime's methods for stabilizing Mexico and making resources available for foreign investment and development included coercion and violence, as well as land seizures from small property owners and forced displacement of indigenous groups and villages. Once in place, domestic and foreign agricultural and industrial complexes benefited from preferential treatment from the Porfirian regime in the form of legislation, biased arbitration, and (in some instances) military support.

In response to the injustices and oppression suffered under Porfirio Díaz, outbreaks of rebellion occurred across Mexico throughout the Porfiriato. There was no single issue that motivated individuals to revolt, but reasons included various grievances related to land rights, labor disputes, lack of civil liberties, and an unjust and violent political system. However, Francisco Madero's revolt against Porfirio Díaz, launched on November 20, 1910, has been designated as the official beginning of the Mexican Revolution. The war lasted a decade between 1910 and 1920. Following the devastation of ten years of war, the nation rebuilt. The ideologies and issues that motivated the insurrection were made seminal to the reconstruction of the nation through narratives and invented traditions.

The Taller de Gráfica Popular (Workshop for Popular Graphic Art), or TGP, is a graphic art collective founded in Mexico City in 1937 that was motivated by the goals and legacy of the Mexican Revolution. The TGP's 1947 portfolio Estampas de la Revolución Mexicana (Prints of the Mexican Revolution) consists of eighty-five linocut prints created by sixteen member artists. The album remarks on three distinct periods of Mexican history: one through nineteen address the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1910); twenty through fifty-seven present the violent phase of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920); and fifty-eight through eighty-five deal with the postwar era in Mexico (1920s–1940s). A "prologue" introduces the project and brief textual captions provide some context for each image.

The figures represented within the portfolio are significant to and symbolic of the historical events, issues, and ideologies associated with the Mexican Revolution. Key figures within the graphic series, based on the number of times represented or referenced, are Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Madero, Venustiano Carranza, Álvaro Obregón, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Emiliano Zapata. National recognition was a tribute paid to these men as part of the process of invention and institutionalization of the war, which promoted most of them as national heroes of the Mexican Revolution. In the graphic series, the TGP heroicized some of these individuals and the collective demonized others.

Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919), the general of the Southern Army of the Mexican Revolution, is the most emphasized figure in the TGP's portfolio on the war. The image of Zapata has a rich and complex history that spans nearly a century. During the rebellion, and more so after his death, Zapata is seen as an agent and symbol of social justice and land reform. Zapata's involvement began as a fight for the reclamation of land and resources on behalf of the disenfranchised villagers of his hometown, Anenecuilco, in the state of Morelos. In this effort, Zapata fought for and promoted agrarian reform and regional autonomy in the form of grassroots self-government. Therefore, fundamentally, the image of Zapata correlates with the concepts of the egalitarian distribution of land, the decentralization of government, and rebellion in the name of justice. Symbolically, Zapata has become the personification of the Mexican Revolution, Mexican national identity, Mexican cultural heritage, and social justice. However, it is important to realize that diverse applications frame Zapata within a variety of contexts and represent him in multiple forms, thus indicating the importance he holds as a symbol, but also making clear the multiplicity of meanings attached to Zapata.

Examination of a select number of prints of Zapata from the TGP's Prints of the Mexican Revolution explains how and for what purposes the revolutionary has been remembered, constructed, and transformed into an icon of revolution. Analysis of the visual, textual, historical, and narratological elements in the series of prints reveals the interplay of distinct narratives of the war in the TGP's portfolio, which alludes to the evolving and multiplicitous nature of the legacy of the war. Tracing the narrative(s) of Zapata that the TGP wove into the series of prints, this chapter makes evident the objectives of the TGP for the portfolio. However, although Zapata is represented in nine distinct prints, I will only discuss a select number and focus my discussion on elements that clearly express the focus and intent of the portfolio.

The TGP took the traditional concept of the artisanal workshop and transformed it into a site for artistic production and training motivated by a sense of social justice and political action. The graphic images of the TGP worked to inform and educate the people of Mexico, as well as an international audience. As activists, the artist members of the TGP promoted and lobbied for progressive labor laws, access to education, and control of natural resources. Topics at the core of the workshop's prints include Mexico's heritage and history, the poverty and oppression of the Native American population, human rights, and civil liberties. In alignment with international...