Creating Pátzcuaro, Creating Mexico: Art, Tourism, and Nation Building under Lázaro Cárdenas by Jennifer Jolly (review)

Nestled in the picturesque mountains of the state of Michoacán, Pátzcuaro lives up to its designation as one of Mexico's most revered "Pueblos Mágicos" (magical towns). Yearly, thousands of national and foreign tourists venture to Pátzcuaro and indulge in a smorgasbord of cultural and historical offerings from the colonial architecture, the remnants of the P'urh épecha civilization in the surrounding areas, the famous Lago de Pátzcuaro and the island town of Janitzio, artistic talents showcasing their works in open markets, and, of course, the world-renowned Day of the Dead celebrations that take place in late October and early November. Indeed, visiting Pátzcuaro is synonymous to stepping back into history. How did this relatively obscure town transform into a cosmopolitan center, national emblem, and model for nation-state building under the Lázaro Cárdenas regime (1934–40)? These are just some of the questions tackled by art historian Jennifer Jolly in Creating Mexico: Art, Tourism, and Nation Building under L ázaro C árdenas, an interdisciplinary work that weaves together theory, art history, cultural studies, and popular politics, and challenges popular understanding of postrevolutionary Mexico in the C árdenas era. The book is not a straightforward historical biography of Pátzcuaro; rather, Jolly locates the growth of the town within a broader history of nation-state building in postrevolutionary Mexico. Thanks to the efforts of President Cárdenas—one of the country's most revered heads of state—federal money was channeled "to re-create and promote Pátzcuaro as Mexico's heart" as well as for "opening Mexico to economic development, soliciting international investment, and promoting travel" (1, 35–36). Jolly argues that the region "became a microcosm of cultural power and … a model for regional development … because its creation addressed specific needs in postrevolutionary Mexico" (2).

The period following the Mexican Revolution was transformative for Mexico. After a decade of warfare, forced displacements, death, and political turmoil, the newly established revolutionary state launched a series of cultural-nationalist programs to propagandize the ideals of the Mexican Revolution and reinforce its commitment to the lower layers of society. While the muralist movement was undeniably one of the most popular initiatives, magnifying the profile of greater Mexico, monument building and historical conservation were essential projects to nation builders and helped facilitate Pátzcuaro's transformation into a national symbol and significant tourist destination. In the first part of the book, Jolly traces nineteenth-century representations of Pátzcuaro through the lenses of travel writers and picturesque texts and demonstrates how they shaped the Mexican imaginary. Here Jolly introduces readers to some of the leading figures involved in showcasing the natural beauty of the region such as Alexander von Humboldt, the pictorialist Hugo Brehme, and other international wanderers who performed a significant function as chroniclers and exercised an enormous amount of clout in dictating people's perception of regional areas. Their writing styles can be described as a blend of anthropological poetry in which indigenous people and the landscape both are described in exotic ways that perpetuate preexisting stereotypes and depict individuals as bereft of agency. Jolly moves on to examine the initiatives pushed forward at a state and federal level that transformed Pátzcuaro into "a cultural destination and monument" (84). She places special attention on how the establishment of historical preservation programs in Michoacán during the early 1930s served as a model for federal programs of the same nature. When Cárdenas assumed the presidency, he expanded to the federal level the statewide law that protected historical structures of various sorts. Jolly continues her narration of Pátzcuaro's ascendance into an embodiment of the nation by addressing the contributions made by other participants. Although government functionaries were essential actors in nation-state building...