Analysis Of Mexican Profundo: Reclaiming A Lost Civilization

Bonfil Batalla’s book, Mexican Profundo: Reclaiming a Lost Civilization, highlights the struggles of the Mesoamerican culture in the past and present. The author provides an insightful look at two different civilizations that have occupied Mexico throughout the centuries. Batalla named these two civilizations the Mexico Profundo and the imaginary Mexico. He explains how these civilizations have major differences that restrict their ability to coexist peacefully together. This book provides a detailed perspective of the differences and effects of the Mexico Profundo and the imaginary Mexico, the colonization of Mexico, Mexico after the colonial period, and the modern resistances of the Mexico Profundo. Batalla goes into depth about the differences …show more content…
However, the author points out that Mesoamerican cultural traits and traditions have survived despite being forcefully dominated by western capitalist societies. The preservation and survival of the Mesoamerican way of life is largely attributed to the Mexico Profundo. On the other hand, the imaginary Mexico works to destroy the Mesoamerican way of life and to fill that void with western capitalism. After reading Batalla’s book, I have learned that the oppression of the Mexico Profundo still exists today. The internal forces of the imaginary Mexico and the external forces of western capitalism all work to subdue the Mesoamerican cultural identity. The reason why there is so much opposition between these two civilizations is because of the different cultural motivations, goals, and traditions that each civilization values. On the one hand, the Mexico Profundo values being part of a collective culture that is centered on sustainable agriculture and environmental practices. On the other hand, the imaginary Mexico values individualism and exploiting the environment for monetary gain. The disturbing part about these differences is that the imaginary Mexico does not allow