Stories That Make History: Mexico through Elena Poniatowska's Crónicas

by Lynn Stephen

Overview

From covering the massacre of students at Tlatelolco in 1968 and the 1985 earthquake to the Zapatista rebellion in 1994 and the disappearance of forty-three students in 2014, Elena Poniatowska has been one of the most important chroniclers of Mexican social, cultural, and political life. In Stories That Make History, Lynn Stephen examines Poniatowska's writing, activism, and political participation, using them as a lens through which to understand critical moments in contemporary Mexican history. In her crónicas—narrative journalism written in a literary style featuring firsthand testimonies—Poniatowska told the stories of Mexico's most marginalized people. Throughout, Stephen shows how Poniatowska helped shape Mexican politics and forge a multigenerational political community committed to social justice. In so doing, she presents a biographical and intellectual history of one of Mexico's most cherished writers and a unique history of modern Mexico.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478014645
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	11/12/2021
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Lynn Stephen is Philip H. Knight Chair, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Anthropology, and graduate faculty in Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon. She is the author or editor of fourteen books, including We Are the Face of Oaxaca: Testimony and Social Movements, also published by Duke UniversityPress, and most recently coeditor of Indigenous Women and Violence: Feminist Activist Research in Heightened States of Injustice.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations  vii
Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction. On Testimony, Social Memory, and Strategic Emotional Political Communities in Elena Poniatowska's Crónicas  1
1. Mexico City's Growing Critical Public: News and Publishing, 1959–1985  31
2. The 1968 Student Movement and Massacre  60
3. A History We Cannot Forget: The 1985 Earthquake, Civil Society, and a New Political Future  110
4. Engaging with the EZLN as a Writer and Public Intellectual  151
5. Amanecer en el Zócalo: Crónica, Diary, and Gendered Political Analysis  197
6. ¡Regrésenlos! The Forty-Three Disappeared Students from Ayotzinapa  228
Conclusion: Telling Stories, Making History  247
Notes  257
Bibliography  281
Index  303

Editorial Reviews

The fortuitous pairing of perhaps Mexico's most beloved, enduring, and influential writer with one of its most prolific and accomplished international scholars of social and cultural movements gives rise to an extraordinary collaboration. This engrossing volume will be required reading for anyone seriously interested in Mexican journalism and literature, history and history-making, and the formation of social memory.

The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics - Gilbert M. Joseph

"Stephen draws on a wealth of knowledge about Mexico and a long-standing relationship with Elena Poniatowska to produce this richly detailed insight into the life and work of one of Mexico’s most prominent public intellectuals."

Bulletin of Spanish Studies - Sarah E. L. Bowskill

"Stephen enriches each chapter with extensive interviews with Poniatowska (whom she describes as a good friend) and the writer’s close associates. . . .  Setting aside the skepticism characteristic of postmodern social science, Stephen wholeheartedly embraces Poniatowska’s engaged and immersive style of reporting and its contributions to building a 'strategic emotional political community' of social justice advocates who identify with the victims of Mexican history."

Foreign Affairs - Richard Feinberg

"Stories That Make History will appeal to anthropologists, sociologists, historians of Latin America and, in terms of use in the classroom, it would work well with fourth year undergraduate students and graduate students more broadly."

Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies - María L. O. Muñoz

"Stories that Make History is a book overflowing with people and key moments which, thanks to Stephen’s compelling prose and range of references to individuals and key historical moments, makes a strong case for the power of narrative. It showcases the significance of Poniatowska as someone who has spent a lifetime at the forefront of exploring ethical approaches to the telling and performing of stories."

Modern Language Review - Niamh Thornton

Stories That Make History brings us one of Mexico's most admired anthropologists examining the impact of one of Mexico's most prominent public intellectuals. A cross between Susan Sontag and Joan Didion, Elena Poniatowska has been one of the central chroniclers of Mexican social, cultural, and political life. Lynn Stephen shows us the powerful influence Poniatowska has had in shaping our understanding of modern Mexican history.

Jocelyn Olcott

"Stephen illustrates Poniatowska’s unique position of being both a participant and an activist, a duality present in her crónicas, which has placed her in a position of privilege, one she uses to critically inform her predominantly working-class readers. As an accomplished author and public intellectual, la Poni’s firsthand accounts of important historical events in Mexican history fill a lacuna in which state-sponsored violence or government neglect were the official and inadequate responses. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals."

Choice - C. A. Hernandez