1923: Two ateneísta ways of understanding the intellectual (La falange and Vida mexicana)

Abstract

The immediate task of the Mexican post-revolutionary governments in the twenties was the creation and consolidation of institutions that would build the ideological program of the new state. In this task, intellectuals played a prominent role, particularly in the debate on the definitions of culture and national identity, which fostered an atmosphere of exchange of ideas, as well as tensions between different artistic and intellectual groups. This article analyzes two specific groups: the first headed by José Vasconcelos and the second by Pedro Henríquez Ureña. Both characters shared an intellectual bond and common purposes, but different ways of fulfilling those goals: on the one hand, as a maker of institutions, directly linked to the governmental structure and government actions and on the other, as a social critic. Thus, through the comparative analysis of two publications in particular: La falange. Revista de cultura latina, as organ of the group linked to José Vasconcelos, and Vida Mexicana. Revista mensual de ideas de interés, by those who followed Pedro Henríquez Ureña, analyzes the trajectory of two ways of understanding the social role attributed to intellectuals, the points in common of these groups, as well as the differences in the projects and trajectories that followed later.