Important Midcentury Mexican Cultural Periodical

[Mexico]: [Mexican Association for Cultural Freedom]:

Examen. Revista Bimestral Organo de la Asociacion Mexicana por la Libertad de la Cultura [first twelve issues].

Mexico City: 1958-1960. Twelve issues, each between 96 and 108pp. Original illustrated wrappers printed in two colors. Moderate overall edge wear and dust-soiling to wrappers. Occasional minor toning to text, but mostly clean internally. Overall very good condition. Item #13246

The first twelve issues of Examen, the official publication of the Mexican Association for Cultural Freedom (AMLC), an intellectual organization active in Mexico during the Cold War, linked to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, founded in Berlin (and supported by the CIA). Published in a total of thirty issues between 1958 and 1962, the magazine promoted liberal, anti-communist positions and Ibero-American cultural integration. Examen is a key publication for understanding the articulation of the Mexican intellectual field within the cultural Cold War, as it was directly linked to the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CLC), an international network promoted from Paris with American support to counter Soviet influence.

The magazine served as a platform for disseminating liberal ideas, defending intellectual freedom from a Western perspective, and implicitly supporting both the post-revolutionary Mexican state and Pan-Americanism. The magazine was a vehicle for encouraging transnational networks of intellectuals who supported left-wing anti-Communism during the 1950s and '60s. In addition to a legion of Mexican authors and intellectuals, a sampling of the international authors who contributed to Examen include Albert Camus, Thomas Mann, Bertrand Russell, Karl Jaspers, Howard Fast, Victor Alba, Arthur Koestler, Thomas Merton, and John Herling..

Price: $750