ABSTRACT

Indigenismo emerged as a cultural movement during the twentieth century in Latin America. The Mexican intellectual and education minister in the early 1920s, Jose Vasconcelos, laid out the contours of Latin American indigenismo in his book La raza cosmica. World War I dramatically altered Latin America’s relationship, and love affair, with Europe. Latin Americans should show pride in their rich, complex racial and cultural make-up. Postrevolutionary Mexico became the place where indigenismo flourished. Radical reinterpretations of Mexican history and culture put native societies on an elevated plane and assigned to the Europeans the unflattering role of conqueror and invader. Postrevolutionary Mexico became the place where indigenismo flourished. Radical reinterpretations of Mexican history and culture put native societies on an elevated plane and assigned to the Europeans the unflattering role of conqueror and invader. The indigenismo movement in Latin America is more than one universally accepted cultural or intellectual movement.