Indigenismo

Indigenismo

Latin American movement pressing for a dominant social and political role for Indians in countries where they constitute a majority. Its adherents draw a sharp distinction between Indians and people of European ancestry, who have dominated the Indian majorities since the 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese conquest. The movement became influential in Mexico with the revolution of 1910–20; it was particularly strong during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40), who made serious efforts to reconstitute the country in accordance with its Indian heritage. In Peru it is associated with the APRA movement.

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Indigenismo 

(Indianismo), a tendency in the social thought, fine arts, and literature of the countries in Latin America in which Indians constitute a significant part of the population and the tradition of their ancient culture has been preserved. It developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s when many artists and writers, under the influence of the growing working-class and peasant movement, turned to depicting the life of the Indians. Peruvian Indigenists in painting (J. Sabogal, K. Bias, J. Codesido, and J. Vinatea Reinoso), relying on the tradition of folk art, created poetic images of Indian life. Indigenists in literature from Peru (E. López Albújar, C. Alegria, and J. M. Argüedas), Bolivia (A. Argüedas and M. Mendosa Lopez), and Ecuador (F. Chavez and J. Icaza) wrote a number of novels depicting the tragic condition of the Indians and their struggle for their rights. The themes of working life of the Indians and their struggle for liberation play an important role in Mexican painting (D. Rivera and F. Goitia) and literature (E. Abrey Gomez and G. López y Fuentes).

REFERENCES

Kuteishchikova, V. N. Roman Latinskoi Ameriki v XX veke. Moscow, 1964.
Polevoi, V. M. Iskusstvo stran Latinskoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1967.