The Mexican Dream, or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations
First edition (translated) | |
| Author | J.M.G. Le Clézio |
|---|---|
| Original title | Le Rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue |
| Translator | Teresa Lavender Fagan |
| Language | French translated into English |
| Subject | Mesoamerican History |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (translation) |
Publication date | 1965 |
| Publication place | France |
Published in English | 1993 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 221 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-226-11002-8 |
| OCLC | 27814151 |
| 972/.018 20 | |
| LC Class | F1230 .L3413 1993 |
The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations is an English translation of an essay written in French by J. M. G. Le Clézio first published in 1988. The subjects are Latin American history, Latin American studies, Romance languages, as well as comparative studies and history of religion[1]
11 editions were published between 1988 and 2004 in 5 languages and held by 835 libraries worldwide.[2]
Contents
Le Clézio conducts an inquiry into the disappearance of the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica in the 16th century, particularly the end of the Mexican civilization at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. The author analyses the personalities of characters such as Hernán Cortés, La Malinche, Moctezuma II, Cuauhtémoc, and other key figures.
He refers extensively to the descriptions offered by Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España in analysing the events. He imagines what might have happened if the native populations had not been reduced, and what their impact on Western civilization might have been. Claiming that the West holds both economic and cultural sway over the contemporary world because of the colonization of America, he wonders how the cultural life of Mesoamerica – particularly that of the Aztecs – would have evolved had the arrival of the Europeans not decimated these societies.[3]
Reviews
Le Figaro and Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book.[4]
References
- ^ "The Mexican Dream Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations". The University of Chicago Press. 1993. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Most widely held works about J.-M. G Le Clézio". OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ "The Mexican Dream by JMG Le Clézio". Archived in Books for the News. University of Chicago Press. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
Teresa Lavender Fagan said"I am delighted—but not at all surprised!—that Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. When I read Le rêve mexicain—The Mexican Dream—for the first time, I was transported by Le Clézio's language and message. The author imagined how the thought of early Indian civilizations might have evolved if not for the interruption of European conquest. And how our own civilization might have been different had we had the continued input of such advanced, now vanished, peoples."
- ^ The Mexican Dream, Or, The. University of Chicago Press. 1993. ISBN 9780226110028. Retrieved 27 November 2008 – via Internet Archive.