Selling Mexico: Souvenirs and the Construction of National Representations in the Mercado de Artesanías de La Ciudadela

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18046930

Abstract

This article examines how national representations are produced and negotiated through souvenirs at the Mercado de Artesanías de La Ciudadela in Mexico City. Drawing on banal nationalism, national sensorium, and identity commodification, it argues that the idea of “nation" operates as a set of signs mediated by the state, the marketplace, and tourism audiences. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted between September 2023 and May 2025, including 20 semi-structured interviews with vendors, 40 with tourists, and prolonged on-site observation stays. Souvenirs function as symbolic mediators where state narratives, commercial strategies and tourist practices converge; authenticity emerges as a relational experience rather than a fixed property. The study shows that national representations are constructed through everyday negotiations among actors and that artisanal markets operate as cultural devices where the national is produced and circulated.

Keywords: Souvenir; Authenticity; Tourist consumption; Cultural identity; Cultural tourism.

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Author Biography

David Bernal Montero, El l Colegio de México, México

Maestro en Ciencia Social con especialidad en Sociología (2025) por El Colegio de México, Ciudad de México. Licenciado en Estudios Latinoamericanos (2021) por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Sus intereses académicos giran en torno al consumo cultural desde un enfoque turístico y su relación con los nacionalismos, así como la transformación de mercados tradicionales y la cultura urbana en la Ciudad de México. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9876-8216 [ dsbernal@colmex.mx ]

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Published

2026-09-15

How to Cite

Bernal Montero, D. (2026). Selling Mexico: Souvenirs and the Construction of National Representations in the Mercado de Artesanías de La Ciudadela. Anais Brasileiros De Estudos Turísticos, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18046930

Issue

ABET, Vol. 16, Special Issue (2026): Advances in Tourism Studies & Special Section on "Selected Papers from the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology (Morocco): tourism, cities and global change"

Section

Contemporary Tourism Debates

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