Crímenes de Estado y contra el Estado. Variaciones en el western argentino y mexicano

Abstract

The paper analyzes the transformations that western film undergoes-a genre that represents the foundational and constituent crimes of the nation state-, in the appropriations made by Argentine and Mexican cinema. I focus in particular on the changes that can be perceived in the figure of the hero, in the representation of indigenous peoples and in the representation of women. Within Argentine cinema, I discuss in particular the film Pampa bárbara, while in Mexican cinema I investigate some characteristics that the revolutionary western develops from the various representations of the figure of la soldadera. I also investigate some important variations in the plots based on the ways in which the cinema has articulated the stories of the birth of the nation and the different roles of the army, the different revolutionary factions, and civil society.

Keywords

• western
• mexican revolution
• argentine cinema
• mexican cinema
• latin american cinema