Mexican literature

This rich and diverse tradition spans centuries, encompassing a wide array of genres, themes, and voices that reflect the complexities of Mexican society and culture.

From ancient indigenous myths to contemporary urban narratives, Mexican literature serves as a poignant reflection of the nation's essence, inviting readers to explore its rich history, diverse culture, and collective aspirations.

From the Baroque elegance of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz's poetry to the modernist prose of Carlos Fuentes, Mexican authors adeptly explore themes of identity, history, social justice, and the human experience.

The Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century inspired a new generation of writers like José Vasconcelos and Mariano Azuela, capturing the spirit of the times in their works.

During the mid-20th century Latin American literary boom, Mexican authors such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, and Juan Rulfo gained global recognition for their contributions to world literature.

In present-day, Mexican literature continues to thrive, with writers like Elena Poniatowska, Yuri Herrera, and Valeria Luiselli exploring themes of migration, urban life, and social justice with depth and nuance.

Towards the end of colonial rule in New Spain arose figures like José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, El Periquillo Sarniento is considered as an emblem of the Mexican literature and the first modern novel written in the Americas.

By the second half of that century, works like Los mexicanos pintados por sí mismos, a manners book that gives a rough idea of how intellectuals of the time saw the rest of his countrymen.

Other notable authors of that time were Luis G. Urbina, Efren Rebolledo, José Juan Tablada, Enrique González Martínez and Ramón López Velarde.

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.

There were new groups such as Literatura de la Onda (1960s), which sought for an urban, satirical and rebellious literature; among the featured authors were Parmenides García Saldaña and José Agustín; another literary style surged called Infrarrealismo (1970s), which sought to "blow his brains out the official culture"; La mafia cultural (1960s), was composed of Carlos Fuentes, Salvador Elizondo, José Emilio Pacheco, Carlos Monsivais, Inés Arredondo, Fernando Benítez among others.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Acolmiztli Nezahualcoyotl (1402–1472), tlatoani of Texcoco, were preserved and passed down to posterity giving the author the title of Poet King.

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.

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, Arturo Warman forwarded the hypothesis that the verses sung by the 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.

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.

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.

From 1915 to 1930 there were three streams: a stylistic renewal incorporating influences from the European vanguard (the estridentismo (Manuel Maples Arce, German List Arzubide, Arqueles Vela) and Contemporaries), a group of writers resumed colonial subjects (Xavier Villaurrutia, Jaime Torres Bodet, Jorge Cuesta, José Gorostiza, Salvador Novo), and others who began publishing calls "novels of the Revolution "(the best known is the Underdogs of Mariano Azuela): Martin Luis Guzman, Rafael Muñoz, Heriberto Frías, Jorge Ferretis, Nellie Campobello.

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.

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.

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 ¿Zan yuhqui nonyaz in compolihui xóchitl ah?