The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics (review)

Every semester, the challenge begins anew to convey the history of a nation as complex and contradictory as Mexico in a lively enough fashion to keep students awake yet without exoticizing the people. Teachers will find a tremendous wealth of material in this new anthology, allowing them to choose selections supporting a wide range of historical approaches, and at a surprisingly affordable price. The volume is weighted toward political history, but intriguing women and workers also rise up from the pages, making this a valuable resource for undergraduate surveys and a fascinating read for anyone interested in Mexico.

The Mexico Reader emphasizes primary sources, and the familiar texts of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Fannie Calderón de la Barca, and Subcomandante Marcos are supplemented by newly translated selections such as a broadside dedicated to Santa Anna's leg and the unpublished memoirs of a picaresque Cardenista activist, Salvador Lemus Fernández. Secondary works tend toward the classics of Mexican historiography with a handful of original essays highlighting contemporary research trends in peasant politics and popular culture. The juxtaposition of sources is inspired at times; for example, a solemn speech by Plutarco Elías Calles on the founding of the national revolutionary party is followed by a crude excerpt from Carlos Fuentes's The Death of Artemio Cruz. Well-chosen illustrations include codices, cartoons, and photos, as well as musical lyrics ranging from folk songs and rocanrol to narcocorridos. In addition, a photo essay by John Mraz provides an excellent primer on reading the visual texts.

The volume begins with a selection of readings on the twentieth-century search both by intellectuals and in popular culture for a Mexican national identity. The chronological account opens with a brief glimpse of the Aztec Empire and the Maya civilizations on the eve of the Spanish arrival. The next section, on the colonial period, balances narratives of the conquest with descriptions of haciendas and the Church. The longest two sections deal with the nineteenth century and with the revolutionary era; the former focuses on political conflicts of the early republic and the social costs of modernization under Porfirio Díaz, while the latter depicts the brutal, often incomprehensible nature of revolutionary fighting, as well as the agrarian and anticlerical struggles of reconstruction. The period since 1940 comprises three sections, the first of which provides a dark view of the political corruption and environmental devastation brought by the official party and its quest for modernity. This is followed by a wide-ranging survey of resistance against the authoritarian state, ranging from Zapatista rebels in Chiapas and popular organizing in the cities to the barzón movement of middle-class families seeking to preserve their hard-won livelihoods in an era of economic upheaval. A final section relates the perils and possibilities encountered by Mexicans on the border and in the United States.

On the whole, the essays serve to demystify Mexican culture, but the risk remains of reinforcing negative stereotypes. An exemplary reading by Inga Clendinnen situates human sacrifice within the Mexica worldview, thus countering a common tendency toward sensationalizing the indigenous civilizations. More problematic is a letter by the notorious U.S. consul in revolutionary Puebla, William Jenkins, describing an encounter with Carrancista troops. Although this document could be the starting point for a lively class discussion about revolutionary armies, moral economy, and popular nationalism, such subtleties of historiography may be lost on many readers, leaving them simply with Jenkins' view of ordinary Mexicans as an uncivilized rabble.

The editors have tied the diverse selections together through clear introductions and explanatory footnotes, with only an occasional slip such as mistaking pulses (i.e., frijoles) for pulque (p. 14). The press left a number of pages inexplicably blank in the first print run. Nevertheless, this volume will make a thought provoking read for undergraduate students...