Corporalidad, civilidad y ciudadanía en México: Don Justo de José Gómez Robleda (1940-1950)es

Resumen

CORPORALITY, CIVILITY, AND CITIZENSHIP IN MEXICO:

THE NOVEL DON JUSTO BY JOSÉ GÓMEZ ROBLEDA (1940-1950)

This text approaches José Gómez Robleda’s investigations on the body and citizenship from 1940 to 1950 in Mexico. The analysis interprets his novel Don Justo, starting from the conceptual, operative, and political administration of the ‘average man’ and its body. This text studies the discourse of Don Justo, with emphasis on the idea of corporal citizenship through Foucault’s biopower, while its analytical framework parts from the biotypology posit by author of the novel. The main conclusions point at: A) The idea of the body as the guiding axis of the Mexican citizenship conformation in the mid-twentieth century. B) Eugenics—through racialism, Modernity, and the development of capacities—will constitute, on the individual, moral and social dimensions, the formalizations of the Mexican citizenship quality.

KEY WORDS. Eugenics, biotypology, average man, biopower, symbolic body, imaginary body, citizenship.