{"id":4304,"date":"2019-07-15T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/?p=4304"},"modified":"2019-07-12T16:59:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T20:59:52","slug":"libros-de-lectura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/libros-de-lectura\/","title":{"rendered":"Libros de Lectura: Education and Literacy after the Mexican Revolution \/ Educaci\u00f3n y Alfabetismo despues de la Revoluci\u00f3n Mexicana"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Erika Hosselkus, Curator, Latin American Collections<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Mexico celebrated the 60th<\/sup> anniversary of the creation of its National Free Textbook Commission (Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de Libros de Textos Gratuitos, CONALITEG). This program began in 1959 under the auspices of minister of public education, Jaime Torres Bodet. Today, the commission prints some 200 million free textbooks for more than 25 million Mexican students every year.\u00a0Mexican administrations continue to tout the duration and scope of this program and scholars highlight it among systematic efforts toward free, secular education that began in earnest in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).<\/p>\n

“Libros de Lectura: Education and Literacy after the Mexican Revolution \/ Educaci\u00f3n y Alfabetismo despues de la Revoluci\u00f3n Mexicana”, a spotlight exhibit in Rare Books and Special Collections<\/a>, highlights our growing collection of textbooks from the first half of the twentieth century in Mexico and examines literacy efforts in the decades before and after the formation of the National Free Textbook Commission. The exhibit showcases literacy-related materials sponsored, approved, or produced by Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education including textbooks for children and books promoting literacy among adults, whether workers or indigenous Popoloca-speakers.<\/p>\n

Among the materials on display are\u00a0Libro de lectura para el uso de las escuelas nocturnas para trabajadores <\/em>(1938) and Cartilla, Campa\u00f1a nacional contral el analfabetismo <\/em>(1965). <\/em>Both of these titles were produced by Mexico\u2019s Ministry of Public Education.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Libro de lectura para el uso de las escuelas nocturnas para trabajadores <\/em><\/a>is one in a series of three literacy textbooks created by Mexico’s League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists (LEAR) and was intended for workers enrolled in night classes. It was produced during the presidency of one of the country\u2019s best-known leaders, L\u00e1zaro C\u00e1rdenas (1934-1940), an era when socialist ideals contributed explicitly to the development of national identity and also became explicit in literacy texts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The book includes striking unsigned illustrations from prints by known Mexican artists. Heavy woodcut or linocut styles and strong imagery are characteristic of Mexico\u2019s revolutionary art. The text begins by introducing the alphabet, vowels, and basic pronunciation. Later entries address aspects of daily life, familiar socialist themes, and even deliver public service announcements regarding, for example, the need for childhood vaccinations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Libro de lectura para el uso de las escuelas nocturnas para trabajadores<\/em>, 1er Grado, Mexico: Comisi\u00f3n Editora Popular de la Secretar\u00eda de Educaci\u00f3n P\u00fablica, 1938.\u00a0Medium PC 4115 .L53 1938<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cartilla, Campa\u00f1a nacional contral el analfabetismo<\/em><\/a> is evidence of a major literacy campaign undertaken by Mexico\u2019s Ministry of Public Education in 1965. The National Free Textbook Commission (CONALITEG) printed an impressive 1,000,000 copies of this literacy primer as part of the nationwide effort. The text is meant to be used by any literate person to teach another person how to read. It provides lessons as well as instructions for use. The teacher is directed never to discourage a learner and instead to make her feel capable and successful. Helping a person learn to read, the primer states, helps to elevate the culture of the Mexican people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Much like the earlier\u00a0Libro de lectura para el uso de las escuelas nocturnas para trabajadores<\/em>, this primer begins with pronunciation exercises and introduces more complex passages, including some clear government messaging, as appears on pp. 72-73 of this title. In this passage, entitled \u201cThey work and they study,\u201d the family of Don Pepe works to educate laborers. When they encounter difficulty with part of the literacy text, Don Pepe consults the director of the local school, who tells him that the laborers need to practice a series of exercises to overcome their difficulty. In this way, the text promotes literacy among peasants and workers, facilitated by literate individuals, and offers a solution to challenges that might be encountered in the learning process.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Secretar\u00eda de Educaci\u00f3n P\u00fablica, Cartilla, Campa\u00f1a nacional contral el analfabetismo<\/em>. Mexico: Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de Libros de Textos Gratuitos, 1965.\u00a0Large PC 4115 .M5 1965<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other titles on display as part of the spotlight exhibit “Libros de Lectura: Education and Literacy after the Mexican Revolution\/Educaci\u00f3n y Alfabetismo despues de la Revoluci\u00f3n Mexicana” are:<\/p>\n

Francisco Cuervo Mart\u00ednez, Mexico: Libro Nacional de Lectura V A\u00f1o<\/em>, (Ideologia Revolucionaria)<\/a>, Mexico: Editorial Patria, 1937.\u00a0Medium PC 4113 .C83 1937<\/p>\n

Leopoldo Mendez,\u00a0En nombre de Cristo\u2026han asesinado mas de 200 maestros<\/a>. <\/em>Mexico:\u00a0Centro Productor de Artes Plasticas del Depto. de Bellas Artes, 1939.\u00a0XLarge NE 546 .M4 E54 1939<\/p>\n

Primer Cartilla Popoloca.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Mexico: Instituto Ling\u00fcistico de Verano; Direcci\u00f3n General de Asuntos Ind\u00edgenas de la Secretar\u00eda de Educaci\u00f3n P\u00fablica, 1952. Medium PM 4206 .P67 1952<\/p>\n

Carmen Dom\u00ednguez A. and Enriqueta Le\u00f3n G., Mi nuevo amigo, Libro segundo de lectura<\/a>. <\/em>Mexico: Empresas Editoriales, 1957.\u00a0Medium PC 4115 .D59 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Erika Hosselkus, Curator, Latin American Collections Earlier this year, Mexico celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of its National Free Textbook Commission (Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de Libros de Textos Gratuitos, CONALITEG). This program began in 1959 under the auspices of minister of public education, Jaime Torres Bodet. Today, the commission prints some 200 million … Continue reading Libros de Lectura: Education and Literacy after the Mexican Revolution \/ Educaci\u00f3n y Alfabetismo despues de la Revoluci\u00f3n Mexicana<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1936,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75050,75054,12646],"tags":[77938,381302,5072],"class_list":["post-4304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibits","category-latin-american-studies","category-miscellaneous","tag-book","tag-mexico","tag-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4304"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4347,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions\/4347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}