The Mexicans: A Sense Of Culture

by Floyd Merrell

Overview

This historical overview of Mexico explores at every opportunity what it is that makes contemporary Mexico the fascinating and vibrant melange of cultures that it is. Embracing an exuberant array of ethnic diversity—including Amerindian, African-American, and European cultures? Mexico is emblematic of much of the clash and combination of cultures that characterizes virtually all of Latin America, from the earliest European conquest and colonization to the present day, The Mexicans: A Sense of Culture captures and reveals the intriguing complexities of daily life in Mexico, from its artistic pursuits to its political and economic patterns.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367318710
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/19/2019
Pages:	291
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Floyd Merrell is professor of Latin American literature and culture, and semiotic theory, in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Purdue University. He is Visiting Professor at the Pontificia Universidade de Sao Paulo and the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil). His many books include Sobre Las Culturas y Civilizaciones Latinoamericanas (On Latin American Cultures and Civilizations).

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Learning Language,
Knowing Culture 1
1 Getting it, Between Cultures 7
2 The Importance of Mexico's Past 27
3 This New World, Spanish Style 47
4 Conquest and Colony 65
5 Cultural Hybridity Emerging 75
6 Making Today's Mexico: Criollos,
Independence, and Caudillos 91
7 The Mexican Mind: An Interlude 107
8 Making Today's Mexico: The Nineteenth Century
and the Mexican Revolution 127
9 Problems That Wouldn't Go Away 141
10 Particular Mexican Ways 155
11 Making Today's Mexico: Or, How and
Why Are There Two Mexicos? 175
vi Contents
12 Along the Political Roller Coaster 193
13 And Now: Pre-Postmodern Mexico? 209
14 Flying High or Primed for a Fall? 225
Appendix 239
Glossary 241
Reftrences 251
Index