Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The Slow Fuse of the Revolutionary Mural: Diego Rivera, Historical Revisionism and Poststructuralism Journal Item How to cite: Carter, Warren (2019). The Slow Fuse of the Revolutionary Mural: Diego Rivera, Historical Revisionism and Poststructuralism. Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, 94 pp. 39–59. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2019 Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://leidykla.vda.lt/Files/file/Acta_94/Acta_94_Carter.pdf Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk 39 The Slow Fuse of the Revolutionary Mural: Diego Rivera, Historical Revisionism and Poststructuralism1 Warren Carter The Open University United Kingdom
[email protected] In this paper I will analyse the links between the revisionist histo- riography of the Mexican Revolution of 1910–20 and the revisionist literatu- re on the Mexican murals produced in the period immediately afterwards, as well as the theoretical arguments that underpin both, before making a call for a “post-revisionist” reading of the art. I will then finish by making a post-revisionist iconographical analysis of Diego Rivera’s History of Mexi- co mural produced between 1929-35 as a counterpoint to revisionist ones that instead read it as government propaganda pure and simple. Keywords: Diego Rivera, Mexican Revolution, Mexican muralism, revi sionism, Marxism, structuralism, poststructuralism.