Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico

by María Elena Martínez

María Elena Martínez's Genealogical Fictions is the first in-depth study of the relationship between the Spanish concept of limpieza de sangre (purity of blood) and colonial Mexico's sistema de castas, a hierarchical system of social classification based primarily on ancestry. Specifically, it explains how this notion surfaced amid socio-religious tensions in early modern Spain, and was initially used against Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity. It was then transplanted to the Americas, adapted to colonial conditions, and employed to create and reproduce identity categories according to descent. Martínez also examines how the state, church, Inquisition, and other institutions in colonial Mexico used the notion of purity of blood over time, arguing that the concept's enduring religious, genealogical, and gendered meanings and the archival practices it promoted came to shape the region's patriotic and racial ideologies.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Reference, School, Latin American History

424 pages, Hardcover

First published July 17, 2008

Reviews

[Cate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was assigned to me for World History Honors, but I found myself enjoying the subject material. Limpieza de Sangre is a term that means "cleanliness of blood" or "blood purity". Limpieza de Sangre was a caste system that started in early modern Spain and Portugal and bled over into colonial Mexico. The basic idea was that people who could trace their ancestors back solely to Christians were of a higher caste than those who had Muslim, Jewish, or Amerindian origins. This led to lots of discrimination and political problems since the majority of people in Mexico descended from Central American natives.
Overall, this book was very insightful and I'm glad I read it. Recommended for anyone who loves history, especially of the Latin American/South American variety.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

super fascinating approach! Concept of purity of blood in Iberian Peninsula as religious justification and then its application to New Spain but instead as a measure of race/whiteness

[Agustín · Rating 1 out of 5]

The work was quite obviously written by someone who decided that antiquity or religious studies were not required for understanding Limpieza de Sangre. Part of the thesis consists of how one cannot consider the genealogical demands of the ideology as something purely cultural nor religious, a rudimentary analysis. One would imagine that in her turgid prose there could be innovation, but no. Any serious individual would have tried to dissect Limpieza de Sangre as more than equating to more privileges, studies into any sort of caste can guarantee that the hierarchy is not just a simple sliding scale of power. The background should have explained the inter-religious animosity between these groups. The book should explain why the Spaniards considered the Jews of a different race than the likes of the Apostles.

[Devil’s advocate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing historical scholarship on the notions of early modern race, and a pioneering fuse of critical race theory with early modern Atlantic history. So sad that Martinez passed away at the age of 47.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping there would be a little more examination of the religious underpinnings here, but on the whole this is a magisterial book that’s highly fascinating for understanding historical constructions of race and identity under Spanish colonialism.

[RYAN PHAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess it’s a book ơn the Mexican caste system and the Spanish Inquisition