The imaginary and the concrete in the discursive formations about the figure of the Mexican teacher

Abstract

The following paper belongs to the methodological innovation mode, contemplating the partial advances of an ongoing research. The goal is to analyze the mechanisms of discursive representation of the Mexican teacher during the mid XX century. Two discursive segments are analyzed which proceed from two sources: Historical recollections (mementos from the Secretary of Education and well-known teachers, as well historical texts) and fiction (movies and literature). Research’s theoretical and methodological paradigm, is based on Ginzburg’s (2006) “Family Tree” approach, which allows a transdisciplinary approach and it is based on the “Larga duracion historica” (Braudel, 2006). The most important findings about discursive representations in the Mexican teacher have emerged amongst the fiction and historical recollections literature. Amongst these findings, some stand out: The teacher’s figure symbolic sacrifice and praise’s dialectics.