Deep Mexico, Silent Mexico: An Anthropology of Nationalism

by Claudio Lomnitz

In Mexico, as elsewhere, the national space, that network of places where the people interact with state institutions, is constantly changing. How it does so, how it develops, is a historical process-a process that Claudio Lomnitz exposes, explores, and theorizes in this book, which develops a distinct view of the cultural politics of nation-making in Mexico. Lomnitz highlights the varied, evolving, and often conflicting efforts that have been made by Mexicans over the past two centuries to imagine, organize, represent, and know their country, its relations with the wider world, and its internal differences and inequalities. Firmly based on particulars and committed to the specificity of such theorizing, this book also has broad implications for how a theoretically informed history can and should be done. A historical and theoretical exploration of Mexican national space by way of an analysis of nationalism, the public sphere, and knowledge production, Deep Mexico, Silent Mexico brings an original perspective to the dynamics of national cultural production on the periphery. Its blending of theoretical innovation, historical inquiry, and critical engagement provides a new model for the writing of history and anthropology in contemporary Mexico and beyond. Claudio Lomnitz is professor of history and anthropology at the University of Chicago. Public Worlds Series, volume 9

Genres: Anthropology, American

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Hannah Gormley]

This book is very entertaining and an ambitious intellectual achievement. A star knocked off because though the book doesn’t claim to give a voice to silent Mexico, and states that silent Mexico still has no voice, a little more effort could surely have been made to include indigenous voices and scholars given its content.