Critical Discourse Analysis of National Identity in Post-Revolutionary Mexican Cinema, Based on the Film “HELL”

Authors

Abstract

Cinema as a Cultural Industry, is the promoter of identity, memory, dreams and collective projects. Mexico has introduced its collective identity to the world, using this industry. Examining the application of this industry in Mexican Cinema can be considered an important step for improving the country’s cinema. Approaches to the origins of modern nations consider culture as a fundamental constituent of construction and experience of a nation and the linking element of a film to a national cinema is common mass culture of that nation. The film “Hell”, in spite of considering Mexico's drug trafficking problem, only reflects the national and cultural identity of the northern part of Mexico. On the other hand, Mexico has still a long way to achieve its revolutionary goals. Adopting a transparent approach and dealing with social problems in this film shows that Mexican cinema is trying to take key steps toward achieving these goals. In this research, the critical method of Fairclough in three levels (Description, Interpretation and Explanation) and three aspects (Literary, Dramatic and Cinematic) was applied in the film “Hell”.

Keywords