Entertainment · Books & Arts · 15 hrs ago
Mexican Estridentismo launched with a provocative 1921 manifesto
A manifesto announcing Estridentismo appeared around Mexico City in late 1921.
Poet Manuel Maples Arce was its principal author and signer, and Germán List Arzubide and other writers also backed it.
The movement called for a radical break with the past in literature, poetry, history and the arts.
Its manifesto used deliberately startling language and attacked established cultural conventions, including familiar public signs.
The provocation caused a public stir, and some people feared an attack on the Academy of the Mexican Language.
Estridentismo also celebrated modern technology, including telephones, telegrams and fast cars.
Its works sought to shake people out of cultural complacency, though its supporters expected the movement to be short-lived.
A manifesto posted around Mexico City in late 1921 introduced Mexican Estridentismo, a movement that called for a break with the past.
The leaflet was titled Actual and described itself as a vanguard publication.
Manuel Maples Arce was identified as its principal signatory, and the manifesto had 14 points.
Germán List Arzubide and other writers also signed it, alongside about 200 additional signatures.
Estridentistas sought to renew Mexican history, poetry, literature and the arts, and to challenge what they saw as artistic stagnation.
- Who
- Mexican Estridentistas, led by Manuel Maples Arce.
- What
- They issued a provocative manifesto introducing the Estridentismo movement and calling for change in the arts.
- When
- A few weeks before the end of 1921.
- Where
- The manifesto was posted on walls and street corners in Mexico City.
- Why
- The movement sought to break with the past and renew Mexican intellectual and artistic life.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The manifesto appeared on walls and street corners in Mexico City.
People at the Academy of the Language reportedly stayed awake and took turns keeping watch.
Estridentist creations began to appear.
- Manifesto title
- Actual
- Movement
- Estridentismo
- Main signatory
- Manuel Maples Arce
- Manifesto points
- 14
- Additional signatures
- About 200
What people are saying
Una mañana aparecieron en las esquinas los manifiestos y en la noche se desvelaron en la Academia de la Lengua, haciendo guardias por turno… se creía en la inminencia de un asalto. Pero después comenzaron las creaciones