Re(visions) of Mexico. What I’m up to

There will be time, there will be time / For visions, and revisions, which a minute will reverse

And, perhaps his is the time.

My 2008 “Mexican history for gringos” book… “Gods, Gauchupines and Gringos” was intended for “expats” and students; it was never intended as a scholarly work, but with two goals in mind:

• First, as an antidote to some of the more egregious misconceptions of Mexico I witnessed and heard from foreign visitors (and even long-term residents), including the assumption that Mexicans were “just” a mix of some supposedly homogeneous “Indian” culture and an equally homogeneous “Spanish” one. Thus, the inclusion of other migrant communities.

• Secondly, recognizing that Mexicans are more keenly aware of their history, and form their opinions and actions based on their own knowledge of that history –something alien to most foreigners, especially those from the United States. As an introduction to the “mainstream” view, or, maybe better said, the generally accepted interpretation of past events, in a small way, I hoped to assist the expat or student when it came to those “why do they…?” questions.

With that second goal in mind, my outline was the table of contents for a middle school history text.I deviated somewhat, in including some acknowledgement of women and LGBT+ historical figures, given that feminism and the rights of sexual minorities were being discussed openly in Mexico, and were likely to come up when interacting with locals.A few readers found this problematic, and at least one “Amazon” reviewer (who enjoyed the book)commented that the author was “obviously” a “total lefty”.

Maybe not “totally”.I realized later my book short-changed important minorities like Afro-Mexicans and the various East Asian migrants (if the Afro-Mexicans can really be described as mere “migrants”) and there are some issues – the Inquisition being a prime example – which I ignored (as do most histories), but have come to reject the standard “lefty” viewpoint.

And, with time, much of what seemed likely in 2006 when my editor and I were pushing to get the book to press.I certainly did not expect the “drug war”, nor the political shift to the left in 2018. Nor the reconsideration of various historical figures (like Cortés’ “mistress”, Doña Mariana) and the new focus on otherwise forgotten ones.Nor… for that matter… the rapid economic and political changes of the last two decades.

All this to say, there are many things I’d write differently, IF I were to revise “Gods, Gauchupines and Gringos”.I made a few half-hearted attempts over the years to at least start, but for one reason or another, never managed to start anything.

As it is, given my age, my health, my living conditions, I don’t know I’d have it in me to even try. Instead, what seems feasible, and while every week or ten days, I’ve managed a “substack” post on Mexican politics (or… more accurately… US-Mexican relations), I can also manage a series of essays on specific topics, like the “lost northern territories”, the Inquisition, the “cultural revolution of the 1920s”, and others. Enough for a book?  Probably, although I’ve not developed a detailed enough outline to think about that…. yet.

ABOUT THAT “YET”…

My previous editor died several years ago, and for now I’m operating without a net. I’ll post the essays, or the draft of essays, on Mexfiles.net under a Creative Commons license until (or IF) an editor takes me on, and will, of course, want to protect their rights. In the meantime, I’ll depend on the kindness of strangers (not so much for any financial incentives, but to question, disagree, or downright condemn whatever it is I write… comments are always welcome, even negative ones).

By no means would I claim to be writing an “academic” work… that is, in an eclectic work like this, like in Gods, etc. I will be going easy on the citations, although… where possible … I will include the reference source.