Mexican literature

Mexican literature plays an important role in Mexican culture. In particular, there were many important Mexican scholars and writers during the time of the Mexican Revolution.

Several periods characterize Mexican literature: the Pre-Columbian epoch, which lasted until the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish Conquistadors; the Colonial Era, defined by the baroque movement and influences from Spain; the Independence Era, which reached a nebulous climax in the second half of the 19th century, dominated by the influence of the French Revolution; the Revolutionary Era, from 1910 to 1960, proletariat and socialistic in its impulses and themes; and a contemporary fragmentary era from the 1960s onwards.

From pre-Hispanic times, the writer best known today is the poet-king Nezahualcoyotl.

Two outstanding figures in the colonial era were Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), a nun who wrote many fine poems and won fame for her defense of women's rights, and the playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón.

Perhaps the most famous and influential writer of the Revolutionary years was Mariano Azuela. He is known for writing the first novel of the Revolution. He was born in 1873, in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco. He started writing early. He was a liberal who supported Francisco I. Madero. During the war he was a doctor on the battlefield, so he witnessed many horrific scenes himself. He wrote Los de abajo (translated into English as "The Underdogs") in Texas in 1915. The Underdogs is about the Mexican Revolution. It achieved great success all over the world. Azuela continued writing after that, but he became very disappointed with all of the corruption that was happening in his country. This can be seen in the sarcasm of his later works Las moscas, El camarada Pantoja, and La luciernaga.

Pre-Columbian writers

• Nezahualcoyotl

Colonial writers

• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Essayists

• Elena Poniatowska
• Carlos Monsivais
• Germán Dehesa
• Cristina Pacheco
• Jaime Torres Bodet
• Daniel Sada
• Federico Reyes Heroles

Novelists

• Ikram Antaki
• Mariano Azuela
• Ricardo Elizondo Elizondo
• Martín Luis Guzmán
• Gregorio López y Fuentes
• Fernando del Paso
• Juan Rulfo
• Carmen Boullosa
• Enrique Serna
• Héctor Aguilar Camín
• José Agustín
• Jorge Ibargüengoitia
• Juan José Arreola
• Rosario Castellanos
• Gonzalo Celorio
• Salvador Elizondo
• Laura Esquivel
• Carlos Fuentes
• Elena Garro
• Vicente Leñero
• Ángeles Mastretta
• Sergio Pitol
• María Luisa Puga
• José Revueltas
• Agustín Yáñez
• José Vasconcelos
• Jorge Volpi
• Alberto Ruy Sánchez

Poets

• Octavio Paz
• Alfonso Reyes
• José Emilio Pacheco
• Jaime Sabines
• Ramón López Velarde
• Salvador Novo
• Xavier Villaurutia
• Gabriel Zaid
• Homero Aridjis
• Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
• Alí Chumacero
• Jorge Cuesta
• José Fernández de Lizardi
• Juan García Ponce
• Juán Gorostiza
• Amado Nervo
• Carlos Pellicer

Playwrights

• Hugo Argüelles
• Rodolfo Usigli

Historians

• Daniel Cosio Villegas
• Enrique Krauze