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Popular Comics and Authoritarian Injustice Frames in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Leticia Neria  and
Mark Aspinwall
Leticia Neria
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México
Mark Aspinwall
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
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Abstract

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Analysts of social movements have done a great deal to extend our understanding of how resistance groups frame injustices. They often assume that some form of collective (discursive) action is necessary to frame common understandings, but in many authoritarian regimes collective action is not tolerated. Instead, opposition is expressed in messages embedded in comics, films, and other images generated by popular culture. In this article we connect the literature on social movements and framing to the psychological and cultural understandings of humor, and specifically how text and images in humorous comics form a response to official frames of social peace, modernization, and development. Even when no one dares to write a letter of protest, or take to the streets, or set up a website, the political content of comics establishes understandings about group identity and justice. In more open and democratic regimes, dissident leaders are permitted to manipulate images and understandings. In closed authoritarian regimes, comics are “ready meals” for dissidents. We examine humorous comics in Mexico from 1970 to 1976 to show how text and images spoke of injustices such as torture, poverty, and marginalization.

Resumo

Resumo

Los especialistas en movimientos sociales ya han hecho un gran trabajo para ampliar el conocimiento acerca de cómo los grupos de resistencia colocan en marcos (frames) las injusticias. A menudo, asumen que alguna forma de acción colectiva (discursiva) es necesaria para enmarcar las formas comunes de pensar, pero en diversos regímenes autoritarios, la acción colectiva no es tolerada. En estos casos, la oposición es expresada en mensajes, los cuales están insertos en historietas, películas y otras imágenes generadas en la cultura popular. En este artículo, hacemos una conexión entre los trabajos acerca de movimientos sociales y frames, con los estudios psicológicos y culturales acerca del humor, y discutimos específicamente cómo el texto y las imágenes en las historietas humorísticas se convierten en una respuesta a los frames oficiales de paz social, modernización y desarrollo. Incluso cuando nadie se atreve a escribir una carta de protesta, o salir a manifestarse a las calles, o hacerlo a través de internet, su contenido político establece un conocimiento sobre la identidad del grupo y su forma de entender la justicia. En regímenes más abiertos y democráticos, se les permite a los líderes disidentes manipular imágenes y perspectivas. En regímenes cerrados y autoritarios, las historietas son una especie de “objeto pre-armado” para los disidentes. En este trabajo revisamos historietas de humor en México de 1970-1976 para probar cómo el texto y las imágenes hablaron de injusticias tales como la tortura, la pobreza y la marginalización.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , 2016 , pp. 22 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

The authors wish to thank Kate Kobylka for her research assistance.

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