Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

This thesis demonstrates that the discursive strategies that characterise the political struggle of the Zapatista (EZLN) movement are produced in response to the political and economic realities of Mexico and the southeastern state of Chiapas. The EZLN�s intentionally ambiguous discourse of dignity epitomises these strategies. By deploying various incarnations of dignity to counter the Mexican Government�s strategic political manoeuvres, the EZLN destabilises the political, economic and social hegemonies of the nation. This destabilisation creates a space for the EZLN to suggest the possibility of an alternative political logic to the Mexican populace. However, the marginalised social location and ethnic diversity of the movement�s indigenous constituents impedes their ability to effect significant political change. This impediment is overcome when they coalesce around the politically advantageous subjectivity of indigenous Zapatistas and engage with the mestizo Subcomandante Marcos to produce the EZLN. The movement enacts a progressive coalitional politics that articulates radical political alternatives for Mexico through the strategic practice of translation. Thus, translation is posited as a powerful political practice for marginalised groups engaged in resistance struggles in the contemporary global conditions.

(in English): In this thesis I present the Zapatista movement and its media strategy. Further I describe its visual communication by means of a case study. After evaluating the significance of media strategies of the zapatista movement, I will prove that Zapatistas' media communication played a crucial role in the transformation of Mexican society in the late 90s and directly influenced the process of transition to democracy in Mexico. In the introduction I will explain how news photographs can be a source of exploration of the Zapatistas and I will introduce the basic hypotheses of my research. In the historical part of my introduction I will put the movement in the context with the political, social and historical development of Mexico and the state of Chiapas, where the uprising broke out in 1994 and I will explain the causes of the rebellion and introduce its goals. Before I describe the aspects of Zapatistas' communication, I will focus on the Mexican media environment so that I can link it with the media outlets of the Zapatista movement. I will describe in general terms media strategies and myths created by the movement. In the case study I will examine photographs of EZLN published in the magazine Proceso in the years 1994 and 2001, I will compare the Zapatistas' visual communication with...