Author : Marjorie Becker
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 9780520914353
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (143 download)
Book Synopsis Setting the Virgin on Fire by : Marjorie Becker
Download or read book Setting the Virgin on Fire written by Marjorie Becker and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1996-01-04 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this beautifully written work, Marjorie Becker reconstructs the cultural encounters which led to Mexico's post-revolutionary government. She sets aside the mythology surrounding president Lázaro Cárdenas to reveal his dilemma: until he and his followers understood peasant culture, they could not govern. This dilemma is vividly illustrated in Michoacán. There, peasants were passionately engaged in a Catholic culture focusing on the Virgin Mary. The Cardenistas, inspired by revolutionary ideas of equality and modernity, were oblivious to the peasants' spirituality and determined to transform them. A series of dramatic conflicts forced Cárdenas to develop a government that embodied some of the peasants' complex culture. Becker brilliantly combines concerns with culture and power and a deep historical empathy to bring to life the men and women of her story. She shows how Mexico's government today owes much of its subtlety to the peasants of Michoacán.