Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: March 16, 2021 at 10:28:25 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-LatAm]: Hijar on Hayes, 'Radio Nation: > Communication, Popular Culture, and Nationalism in Mexico, 1920-1950' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Joy Elizabeth Hayes. Radio Nation: Communication, Popular Culture, > and Nationalism in Mexico, 1920-1950. Tucson University of Arizona > Press, 2020. xx + 154 pp. $26.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8165-4158-4. > > Reviewed by Andres Hijar (Georgia Gwinnett College) > Published on H-LatAm (March, 2021) > Commissioned by Casey M. Lurtz > > The influence of radio in postrevolutionary Mexico "has been both > [an] underestimated and understudied" topic when it comes to > understanding state formation as undertaken by elites in > postrevolutionary Mexico (p. xiii). How did President Lázaro > Cárdenas garner popular support and reach the Mexican masses? How > did Mexico afford the technology required to establish mass media > without compromising national sovereignty? Joy Elizabeth Hayes > answers these questions in her examination of revolutionary elites' > efforts to construct a stable political regime through the airwaves. > > Hayes's overarching argument asserts that the US government and > corporations intervened in Mexican mass media from its inception, as > establishing radio broadcast stations with the capacity to reach a > large audience required significant investment and technology. Hayes > highlights the continuous challenges the radio industry faced in its > attempts to reach the Mexican masses, challenges that made Americans > and their technologies indispensable. However, despite American > control, Mexicans carved an important place in the mass media > industry and drew on Mexican elites' conservative background to > control and dictate the content of radio programs. Hayes points to > Emilio Azcarraga's media and radio dynasty, the promotions of content > depicting nationalist themes on radio, and the postrevolutionary > regime's ability to regulate mass media as evidence that the American > presence on Mexican radio constituted expansionism instead of > imperialism. > > Hayes's focus on expansionism versus imperialism does not allow for a > further discussion regarding the repercussions of American control. > Because she does avoid the implications of this distinction, her > discussion of US influence in Mexico is limited to technology and > propaganda. An alternate reading of the same sources would perhaps > point to a different conclusion, especially because the actions > undertaken by mass media companies, first radio and later television, > affected the majority of Mexicans and benefited most Americans in > general terms. Thus, radio would be better understood through the > lens of imperialism as Mexican mass media served the interests of a > handful of wealthy and connected individuals directly linked to > American interests. The repercussions were multifold. One can simply > point to the news coverage of the students' massacre of 1968, the > Acteal killings, the alleged electoral frauds of 1988 and 2006, the > billionaire rescue of wealthy elites with public money during the > Zedillo regime that included American interests, the entrance of > American capital in oil and mining, or the Plan Merida to situate the > effects of this monopoly. Up until the advent of digital content, > these same interests controlled the entire mass media industry since > its inception. > > Chapter 1 traces the origins of radio in Mexico to the _Teatro the > Revista_ (temporary popular plays performed under tents) and > newspapers. Radio's ability to extract popular elements from these > two long-standing forms of entertainment, like the use of music and > the connection between the press and their audience through personals > and stories, made radio instantaneously popular among Mexicans. With > these combined elements, Hayes argues that radio continued the > public's long-standing tradition of attending public plays. As a > result, radio seamlessly overtook and subsumed these two popular > forms of entertainment. However, Hayes explains that radio's origins > in popular culture did not mean that the content on the airwaves > challenged the narrative set forth by the regime, as the _Teatro_ > often did. In fact, elites directed the distribution of > noncontroversial content for radio, such as music and official > speeches. Hayes does not mention actors, such as Mario Moreno > (Cantinflas), German Valdez (Tin-Tan), Jesus Martinez (Palillo), and > others who had to adjust to the radio and its censors, which > inevitably deradicalized their work. This argument about the > increasing homogeneity of popular content would have benefited from > Hayes presenting specific examples that would have made the narrative > come alive. > > In chapter 2, Hayes defines the nation as an elite project and argues > that the nation is an anti-modern construct, disguised by > long-standing political and economic interests as a modern entity > exalting individualism and an emphasis on the future. Hayes argues > that the nation is rooted in past kinships and religious interests, > with the goal of expanding, justifying, and cementing elites' > interests. In Mexico, the radio and other forms of mass media allowed > these emergent powers to expand their influence through projection > and repetition. In other words, the nation could not exist without > mass media because mass media reached, expanded, shaped, and directed > the narrative and meaning of the nation. This does not mean dominant > ideas went unchallenged, especially when it came to issues regarding > the essence of Mexicanness, or the meaning of the revolution, but > Hayes's discussion on these counter-narratives is sparse. > > Chapter 3 examines the American presence in Mexican radio. As > previously mentioned, lack of capital and technology prevented > Mexicans from establishing a mass media industry without American > involvement. American impetus in Latin American mass media included > promoting and exalting the idea of a free-market system on the radio > in order to counteract the emergence of socialists and communists or > to garner support against the Axis powers. That said, American > laissez-faire attitudes toward the industry at home and abroad > allowed Mexicans to carve a place on the airwaves through > regulations, marriages, and political alliances without American > objection. These connections facilitated a small number of > entrepreneurs and political elites with conservative inclinations, > led by Azcarraga, to monopolize the industry in Mexico for fifty > years, first with radio and later with television. > > Chapter 4 argues that the revolutionary regime used radio to advance > the postrevolutionary elites' processes of state formation despite > most Mexicans not owning a radio. Hayes points out that most > listeners resided in Mexico City. She also describes how Mexicans > came together as a community to listen to the radio and highlights > efforts by the state to distribute radios among the masses. The > author's discussion of music's role in radio is fascinating. She > talks about the challenges in defining popular music. She points out > how biased bureaucrats' definitions of "original" were in fact > efforts to sanitize its popular elements, especially indigenous ones. > As a result, a mixed type of music emerged that combined native and > European elements. Hayes argues that the regime and mass media > established _rancheras_ and _baladas_ with clear European origins as > the essence of Mexicanness in an attempt to water down other forms of > music, especially regional styles that might hold popular grievances > and better represent the majority of Mexicans, such as folk music, > also knows as the _Son _in certain areas. The Europeanization of > Mexican music also underscored the postrevolutionary regime's need to > define a political and economic system based on undermining native > culture and diversity. > > The last two chapters further examine government intrusion on the > airwaves, including the mandated _hora nacional_, in which the state > broadcasted nationally on Sundays for an hour on all radio stations. > Perhaps more notably, the final two chapters analyze Azcarraga's > cooperation with the United States during World II. Azcarragas's > ability to remain essential by offering Americans a trusted partner > helps to explain his eventual control of the mass media industry. > This study portrays Azcarraga as a shrewd capitalist, who effectively > balanced American and nationalist interests to capture the > imagination of the Mexican masses with his safe and unchallenging > content. The portrayal of Azcarraga fails to place into context the > consequences of having a man working with and under the influence of > the US government, controlling a crucial aspect of daily Mexican > life. > > _Radio Nation_ effectively examines state formation, radio, the > Cárdenas regime, mass media, Azcarraga, nationalism, imperialism, > expansionism, Mexicanness, and other crucial themes in Mexican > history. Scholars and students interested in any of the > aforementioned themes will find this study useful in understanding > postrevolutionary Mexican history. > > Citation: Andres Hijar. Review of Hayes, Joy Elizabeth, _Radio > Nation: Communication, Popular Culture, and Nationalism in Mexico, > 1920-1950_. H-LatAm, H-Net Reviews. March, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55861 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7327): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7327 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/81394955/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
