Cult of Defeat in Mexico’s Historical Fiction : Failure, Trauma, and Loss

Cult of Defeat in Mexico's Historical Fiction: Failure, Trauma, and Loss examines recent Mexican historical novels that highlight the mistakes of the nineteenth century for the purpose of responding to present crises. Cult of Defeat in Mexico's Historical Fiction: Failure, Trauma, and Loss examines recent Mexican historical novels that highlight the mistakes of the nineteenth century for the purpose of responding to present crises. It argues that historical reconstructions of the nation's foundational period acquire deeper meaning when understood as part of broad contemporary debates about globalization, neoliberalism, political legitimacy, and the crises afflicting Mexican communities today Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: The Stellar Moments of Mexican History and the Rhetoric of Failure....Pages 1-20 A Mexican Comedy of Errors in Jorge Ibargüengoitia’s Self-Correcting Independence History....Pages 21-58 Cross-Dressing the Second Empire in Fernando del Paso’s Noticias del imperio ....Pages 59-97 The Voices of the Master in Enrique Serna’s El seductor de la patria ....Pages 99-134 Paralysis and Redemption in Three Novels about the Mexican-American War....Pages 135-166 Conclusion: Bicentennial Reflections on Failure....Pages 167-169 Back Matter....Pages 171-189