Anthology of classic Mexican prose

Mexican literature shaped its modern form less than a century ago, between the 1920s and 1940s. Its independent history, however, began at least a century earlier, before the country's independence in 1821.

This anthology is the first attempt to present a coherent and complete account of the emergence and development of Mexican fiction in this first century of its emergence. In their enlightenment explorations, Mexican artists will lead readers through historical labyrinths yet unexplored on the difficult path to realizing the young nation. The spirit of positivism will confront a traditional and deeply religious consciousness, and inner transformation will have to pass through the modern perception of the world around us. The encounter with the faces of the first century will begin with an introduction to the "father" of Latin American literature, the author of the "first novel of the New World", José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi. Forgotten masters of the pen such as Ángel de Campo will appear alongside notable figures such as Ignacio Altamiirano. General Vicente Riva Palacio began writing his stories only a dozen years before the ubiquitous Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, but in aesthetic terms their creative legacies will open up to view like two banks of the same river - separated, yet invariably connected. The insights of the Western world distinctly invaded Mexico with the works of the now little-known Efren Reboledo, but historical dynamics rejected them, sparing even the innovations of widely known artists such as Amado Nervo. Ultimately, the search for a meaningful expression of Mexican identity, fragmented in its "first century" by wars and dictatorships, became a bridge to a more unified world, bequeathing us a history that can both amuse and sadden, but invariably carries invaluable messages.