Mexican literature

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Main entrance of the Guadalajara International Book Fair 2002. The largest book fair of the Americas, and first largest book display in Mexico after Frankfurt's.

Mexican literature is one of the most prolific and influential of

Spanish-language literatures along with those of Spain and Argentina. Found among the names of its most important and internationally recognized literary figures are authors Octavio Paz, Alfonso Reyes, Carlos Fuentes, Sergio Pitol, José Emilio Pacheco, Rosario Castellanos, Fernando del Paso, Juan Rulfo, Amado Nervo, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Ramón López Velarde, and Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
, among others.

Introduction

Mexico has the second most Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish language.

Mexico's literature has its antecedents in the literatures of the indigenous peoples of

Viceroyalty of New Spain. The literature of New Spain was highly influenced by the Spanish Renaissance
, which was represented in all the Spanish literature of the time, and local productions also incorporated numerous terms commonly used in the vernacular of the viceroyalty and some of the topics discussed in the works of the period shaped a distinctive variant of the Spanish literature produced in Mexico.

During the colonial era, New Spain was home to

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Diego de Ribera and Rafael Landivar. Towards the independence a new wave of writers gave the initial struggle for the emancipation of national literature from the literature of the Spanish peninsula: Diego José Abad, Francisco Javier Alegre and Friar Servando Teresa de Mier
.

José Vasconcelos Library
.

Towards the end of colonial rule in New Spain arose figures like

Porfirio Diaz
government, Mexican writers inclined towards the dominant European trends of the time.

Phoenix
of America", or the "Mexican Phoenix".

To celebrate the centenary of the Independence of Mexico, there was a literary project surged Antología del Centenario which aimed to collect authors of the first hundred years of Mexico. This was truncated and only the first volume was published in two volumes primarily consisting of collected poetry. The poets of the time that were included were Friar

.

The emergence of the Mexican Revolution favored the development of journalistic genre. After the civil conflict finished, the Revolution theme appeared as a theme in many novels, short stories and plays like those of Mariano Azuela or Rodolfo Usigli. This trend would be an antecedent for the flowering of 'revolutionary literature', which was embodied in the work of writers like Rosario Castellanos or Juan Rulfo. A literature of indigenous themes, which aimed to portray the thoughts and life of the indigenous peoples of Mexico surged along with this revolutionary literature, although ironically, none of the writers were indigenous. The most notable indigenist authors of the time included Miguel Angel Menendez Reyes, Ricardo Pozas and Francisco Rojas González.

In alternative to these mainstream literature, also other literary styles were developed in the country, less known movements being outside the main focus. Among them, the

estridentistas (1920s) that included authors such as Arqueles Vela and Manuel Maples Arce. Another relevant movement to the literary history of the country was a group of intellectuals known as Los Contemporáneos (1930s), which unified figures such as journalist Salvador Novo and poets like Xavier Villaurrutia and José Gorostiza
.

During the second half of 20th century, Mexican literature had diversified into themes, styles and genres. There were new groups such as

Nobel Prize for Literature
.

Pre-Columbian literature

Page 9 of the Dresden Codex (from the 1880 Förstemann edition). It is located in the museum of the Saxon State Library Dresden, Germany.
Nezahualcoyotl, who was revered as a sage and poet-king.

While the peoples of Mesoamerica developed systems of writing, these were not often used to preserve their literature. Most of the myths and literary works of the indigenous peoples of Mexico were transmitted by oral tradition. The peoples of Mesoamerica, despite having developed writing systems, primarily employed pictographic and logosyllabic forms rather than a phonetic writing system. Among these expressions, the Borgia Group codices are regarded by some scholars as exceptional artistic and literary works. While there is scholarly disagreement, it is commonly accepted that the central section of the Codex Borgia contains a narrative related to the creation of the universe, although an alternate hypothesis suggests that it may depict a series of rituals with an unclear purpose.

In addition to the Codex Borgia, the Mixtec codices Becker 1, Nutall, and Colombino depict the life of the hero-ruler 8-Venado and his efforts towards the unification of the Mixtec people. Another significant manuscript, the Boturini Codex or "Pilgrimage Strip," recounts chapters of the Mexicas' migration from northern Mexico to their eventual settlement in Texcoco Lake. However, it is worth noting that some scholars argue that the Boturini Codex is a copy of an older, unidentified document created during the early stages of the Conquest.

Within the rich cultural tapestry of ancient Mexico, a multitude of ceramic artifacts, stone carvings, stelae, and monoliths bear witness to historical, mythical-genealogical, cosmogonic, and legendary narratives. Notably, the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Nahua, and Mixtec peoples have produced remarkable pieces that capture the imagination.

The Olmecs, often credited as the originators of complex civilizations in Mesoamerica, are associated with the oldest known stone writing. Among their relics, a gravel block named 'Bloque de Cascajal' in Spanish is adorned with glyphs and has been carbon-dated to approximately 3,000 years ago, making it a significant archaeological find. This discovery sheds light on the early development of written communication in the region, highlighting the Olmecs' sophisticated cultural achievements.

We know that one of the activities that were to dominate the novices of priests among the Mexica was the memorization of lyrical works or mythology of their people.[1]

Some of these productions were permanently fixed by writing them down using the Latin alphabet that the missionaries of the 16th century used to transcribe the information they received from the native inhabitants. Modern scholars such as

Miguel Leon-Portilla
, have translated these works which were once dispersed in several texts and have reunited or reviewed these works in publications such as in "Visión de los vencidos. Relaciones indígenas de la Conquista" or "Historia de la literatura Náhuatl."

Page 51 of Book IX from the Florentine Codex. The text is in Nahuatl written with a Latin script.

The works of Spanish missionaries in central Mexico contributed to the preservation of the oral tradition of the Nahuatl speaking peoples by writing them down on paper using the Latin alphabet. In this regard the lyrical works of

nahuatlaca peoples of the Altiplano such as Ayocuan of Chalco-Atenco, and Tecayehuatzin of Huexotzinco
, constitute the largest sample of pre-Columbian works and philosophical lyrics preserved into the modern era.

There are also smaller stocks of

Purépecha, the Zapotec and Mixtec. The Case of the Mixtec is special as four codices have been preserved which have led to an approach to the study of the history of these people under the imprint of Eight Deer, Lord of Tututepec and Tilantongo. In the Mayan world there are preserved fragments called Books of Chilam Balam
.

Another well known pre-Columbian literature is that of the

Quiché people who did not inhabit the current Mexican territory, but rather, lived in what is now Guatemala. The Popol Vuh (Book of Counsel) was written in the Quiché language and incorporates two Mayan cosmogonical myths: the creation of the world and falling of Hunahpu and Xbalanque into Xibalba
which is the underworld of the Maya.

Outside of Mesoamerica,

Yaquis and Mayo musicians during the performance of the Danza del Venado
have their origin in pre-Columbian times and have survived to this day with very little change since then.

Among the prehispanic literature which flourished are:

Spanish colonial period

Mexico City - Palacio Nacional. Mural by Diego Rivera showing the History of Mexico: Detail showing the burning of Maya literature by the catholic church.

In the colonial literature of Mexico we can distinguish several periods. The first period is linked with the historical moment of conquest, it chronicles and letters abound.

16th century

Novohispanic dramatists of the Golden Age, was born in New Spain
(modern Mexico).

The influence of indigenous themes in the literature of New Spain is evident in the incorporation of many terms commonly used in the common local tongue of the people in colonial Mexico as well as some of the topics touched in the works of the period which reflected local views and cultures. During this period, New Spain housed writers such as Bernardo de Balbuena.

In the colonial literature of Mexico we can distinguish several periods. The first examples of literature are linked with the historical moment of conquest, colonization chronicles and letters. Works and writers:

  • Itinerario de la armada del rey católico a la isla de Yucatán[...], probably by Juan Díaz (1480–1549)
  • Relación de algunas cosas de las que acaescieron a Hernan Cortés[...] by Andrés de Tapia (1498? -1561)
  • Cartas de relación de Hernán Cortés (1485–1547)
  • Bernal Diaz del Castillo
    (1492–1584)
  • Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España Friar Bernardino de Sahagún
    (1499–1590)
  • Historia de las Indias, Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias, Apologética historia [...], etc. Friar Bartolomé de las Casas (1484–1566)
  • Historia general de las Indias, La Conquista de México by
    Francisco Lopez de Gomara
    (1511–1566)
  • Antigüedades de la Nueva España by Francisco Hernández (1517–1578)
  • Relación de las cosas de Yucatán Friar Diego de Landa (1524–1579)
  • Crónica mexicana y Crónica mexicáyotl by Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc (c. 1525 – c. 1610)
  • Historia de Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo (c. 1530 – c. 1600)
  • Historia Chichimeca by Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl (1568? -1648)
  • Historia general de las Indias occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala by Friar Antonio de Remesal
  • Francisco Cervantes de Salazar (1514? -1575). Born in Spain, was professor of rhetoric and then rector at the University of Mexico, author of Crónica de la Nueva España and poems such as Túmulo Imperial" y Diálogos latinos (following the example of Juan Luis Vives) of Mexican themes for the teaching of Latin.
  • Gutierre de Cetina (1520 – c. 1567). Born in Spain, lived and died in Mexico. His poetry predates his stay in Mexico, but is very likely the existence of many plays of his authorship.
  • University of Mexico
    , author of Grandeza mexicana (Mexican Greatness).
  • Friar Luis de Fonsalida, author of "Diálogos o coloquios en lengua mexicana entre la Virgen María y el Arcángel San Gabriel".
  • Friar Luis Cancer, author of "Varias canciones en verso zapoteco".
  • Plácido Francisco, tepaneca prince, author of "Cánticos de las apariciones de la Virgen María".
  • Andrés de Olmos, playwright author, "Representación de fin del mundo".
  • Gaspar Perez de Villagra
    (1555–1620). Born in Puebla, participated in the conquest of New Mexico. Author of the poem Historia de la nueva México (1610) and several printed memorials.
  • Francisco de Terrazas. First known poet born in New Spain.

17th century

The first page of the Huei tlamahuiçoltica presently in the New York Public Library
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora

In this period flourished particularly the Mexican variant of the

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Diego de Ribera
were major exponents of the Mexican literature of this period.

The most notable authors:

18th century

José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi.

Towards the end of the colonial period emerged important figures such as

the Americas
.

Illustrated writers and classicists included:

Writers of independent Mexico (19th century)

Amado Nervo

Due to the political instability of the 19th century, Mexico—already an independent nation—saw a decline not only in its literature but in the other arts as well. During the second half of the 19th century, Mexican literature became revitalized with works such as Los Mexicanos Pintados Por Si Mismos, a book that gives us an approximate idea of how intellectuals of the period saw their contemporaries. Towards the end of the century Mexican writers adopted the common tendencies of the period. Two modernist poets that stand out are Amado Nervo and Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera.

Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera

During the 19th century there were three major literary trends: romanticism, realism-naturalism and modernism.

Romantic writers gathered around hundreds of associations; among the most important the

Manuel Jose Othon
.

Later, during the rise of positivism aesthetic taste changed. Between realists and naturalists Mexican writers were Luis G. Inclán, Rafael Delgado, Emilio Rabasa, José Tomás de Cuéllar, Federico Gamboa and Ángel de Campo.

Within the modernist superman, original literary revolution in Latin America, there were numerous metrics and rhyming innovations, revival of obsolete forms and mainly symbolic findings. Between 1895 and 1910 Mexico became a core of modernist activity; among famous writers there were Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Enrique González Martínez, Salvador Díaz Mirón and Amado Nervo.

Essayists

Novelists and short story writers

Poets

Alfonso Reyes was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Contemporary Writers (20th and 21st centuries)

Mariano Azuela

The inception of the Mexican Revolution favored the growth of the journalistic genre. Once the civil conflict ended, the theme of the Revolution appeared as a theme in novels, stories and plays by Mariano Azuela and Rodolfo Usigli. This tendency would anticipate the flowering of a nationalist literature, which took shape in the works of writers such as Rosario Castellanos and Juan Rulfo. There also appeared on the scene an "indigenous literature," which purported to depict the life and thought of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, although, ironically, none of the authors of this movement were indigenous. Among them Ricardo Pozas and Francisco Rojas Gonzalez stand out.


There also developed less mainstream movements such as that of the "

Nobel Prize for Literature.[2]

In the years between 1900 and 1914 it continued to dominate modernism in poetry and prose realism and naturalism. During this period lived representatives 19th-century literature with members of the Ateneo´s youth.

From 1915 to 1930 there were three streams: a stylistic renewal incorporating influences from the European vanguard (the

.

Juan Rulfo

Until the mid-1940s there were authors who continued realistic narrative, but also reached their peak the indigenista novel and reflections involved around on self and national culture. Emerged two new poetic generations, grouped around the magazines Taller y Tierra Nueva.

Octavio Paz

With the publication of Agustín Yáñez's Al filo del agua in 1947 began what we call "contemporary Mexican novel" incorporating innovative techniques, influences of American writers such as (William Faulkner and John Dos Passos), and European influences from (James Joyce and Franz Kafka), and in 1963, the hitherto known for his articles in newspapers and magazines and its beautiful theater Elena Garro, published which became the initiator of the boom Latin American and founder of the genre known as "magical realism": the novel Recollections of Things to Come , which inspired the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez to write his most celebrated One Hundred Years of Solitude. While during the period from 1947 to 1961 predominated the narrators (Arreola, Rulfo, Fuentes), then emerged poets worth as Rubén Bonifaz Nuño and Rosario Castellanos (also narrator).

Carlos Fuentes

In 1960 an anthology was edited La espiga amotinada, which brought together the major group of poets: Juan Banuelos, Oscar Oliva, Jaime Augusto Shelley, Eraclius Zepeda and Jaime Labastida. Literary magazines were one of the main vehicles for disseminating the writers, so they tend to group many of them under the name of the journals in which they were active. The Prodigal Son was directed by Xavier Villaurrutia, the group Los Contemporaneos who had Octavio Paz as a coolaborador. Octavio Paz, after leaving founded the newspaper Excelsior, a magazine called Vuelta, which led for many years the national culture, mainly after the death of Martin Luis Guzman in 1976.

After the death of Octavio Paz, a group of his contributors tried to start a magazine, but the fledgling magazine, Letras libres, failed to have the acceptance of Vuelta. In 1979,

. These and the other authors included are those who currently make up the group of authors at the peak of his literary career. Most worked in Vuelta. Present-day notable Mexican poets include Elsa Cross and Efraín Bartolomé.

Influenced by the mass media, social networks, and the Internet, the generation born in the 80s and 90s exhibits a strong inclination towards literature, which finds expression in various digital and print media platforms, such as blogs, internet pages, digital and printed magazines, and electronic books. The impact of this generation on the literary landscape is still challenging to trace. Nonetheless, their presence is evident through the emergence of literary creation schools established in recent decades, including Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana (UCSJ), Casa Lamm, Centro Morelense de las Artes (CMA), Sociedad General de Escritores de México (Sogem), and Escuela Mexicana de Escritores (EME).

Within this vast and dynamic generation of young and prolific writers, certain individuals have garnered attention for their literary contributions. Among them are Fernanda Melchor, Mercedes Alvarado, Martín Rangel, Aldo Vicencio, Davo Valdez, Iván Cruz, Juan Andrés Herrera, Víctor Ibarra (known by their pseudonyms Genkidama Ñu and Vraiux Dorós), Tania Carrera, Joana Medellín Herrero, Tania Langarica, Itzel Nayelli Palacios, Andrea Chaves, Rojo Córdova, Yaxkin Melchy, Karlos Atl, and many others. While the full extent of their impact is yet to be determined, these individuals represent the active and visible facet of this vast generation of aspiring writers

Essayists

Novelists and short story writers

Poets

Playwrights

Historians

Chronology

¿Zan yuhqui nonyaz in compolihui xóchitl ah?
¿Antle notleyp yez in quenmanian?
¿Antle nitauhca yez in tlaltipac?

¡Ma nel xóchitl, ma nel cuícatl!
¿Quen conchihuas noyolo, yehuaya?
¡On nen toquizaco in tlaltipac!


I only have to leave similar to the flowers that were perishing?
Nothing will my glory ever be?
Nothing will my fame be on earth?

Even flowers, even songs!
Oh, what will my heart do?
In vain we come to pass on earth!

Tr. Ángel María Garibay K.[3]
Replica of "Grandeza Azteca" (Aztec greatness) by painter Jesús Helguera, depicting the legend of Popocatepetl

National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes) awarded

Leopoldo Zea
Paco Ignacio Taibo II

Linguistics and literature

Lingüística y Literatura

History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy

Historia, Ciencias Sociales y Filosofía

Awards

Valeria Luiselli in 2015
  • Nobel Prize for Literature
    : Octavio Paz
  • Miguel de Cervantes Prize: Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Sergio Pitol, José Emilio Pacheco, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando del Paso.
  • Neustadt Prize
    : Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes (candidate), Homero Aridjis (candidate)
  • Jerusalem Prize: Octavio Paz[4]
  • Alfonso Reyes Prize
    : Octavio Paz, Juan José Arreola, José Emilio Pacheco, Ali Chumacero, José Luis Martínez, Ramón Xirau, Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
  • National Prize for Literature: Octavio Paz, Sergio Pitol, Juan Rulfo, Carlos Monsivais, Juan José Arreola, Margo Glantz, Elena Poniatowska, Ali Chumacero, Vicente Leñero, Mariano Azuela, Alfonso Reyes, Jaime Sabines, Maruxa Vilalta
  • Menendez y Pelayo International Prize: Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, José Luis Martínez
  • Prince of Asturias Award
    : Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo
  • Guggenheim Fellowship: Sergio Pitol, Homero Aridjis, Juan García Ponce, Alfredo López Austin, Margo Glantz, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando del Paso, Vicente Leñero, Ramón Xirau, Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Leonardo López Luján
  • Romulo Gallegos Prize
    : Carlos Fuentes, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando del Paso, Ángeles Mastretta
  • Federico Garcia Lorca Prize: José Emilio Pacheco
  • Juan Rulfo Prize
    : Sergio Pitol, Carlos Monsiváis, Tomás Segovia, Juan José Arreola, Juan García Ponce
  • Octavio Paz Prize: Tomás Segovia, José Emilio Pacheco

See also

References

  1. ^ "Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional". sedena.gob.mx. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  2. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1990" Nobel Prize. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. ^ La versión en náhuatl y la traducción aparecen en Bernal, 1996. León-Portilla (1992: 171), señala que este poema aparece en el Manuscrito de la Biblioteca Nacional de México entre los poemas de Huexotzinco (actualmente en el estado de Puebla).
  4. ^ "Jerusalem Prize for 1977 to Go to Octavio Paz, a Mexican Poet" Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 18 February 2014.

External links