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Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico
By David W. Dent
Scarecrow Press, 2002Available from Amazon Books: Hardcover
Reviewed by James Tipton © James Tipton 2006 -
When you open Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico, the first thing you realize is that it is not what it claims to be, an "Encyclopedia." For example, assume you want to look up the popular resort city of "Puerto Vallarta." There is no listing at all. But look up "Nelson A. Rockefeller" and you find two large pages (each about the size of a sheet of typing paper) detailing more than you might want to know about Nelson A. Rockefeller. Look up "Tequila," so important to the economy of Jalisco and of Mexico, and you do find more than a page of information, but you find well over two pages covering Luis Buñuel, a Spanish-born movie director who moved to Mexico when he was forty-six years old.
Speaking of Jalisco, there are no individual states covered in this "encyclopedia." When you look up "Jalisco" you are told to see "Geographical Regions," a section that includes not a single map, a section of seven pages to cover the entire nation, and one of those pages is a table of "Mexican States, Area, and Population 1997," which, incidentally, lists the total population of Mexico at 94,732,320, although should you flip back to the short "Appendix," you find there the population is 98,991,000.
And so, what is this thing, Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico? In the "Preface" it announces that it will focus on the past 60 years, actually on Mexican history from the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) to the present, the administration of Vicente Fox (2000-). Actually, it is for the most part a compendium of articles about Mexican politics and Mexican cultural life during that period. Presidents and movie stars are well represented, with some very nice black and white photographs as well.
You find covered in more than two pages, "Malinche, La (1495?-1527?)," the consort of Cortés and mother of his son Martín, a rather "unmodern entry," but no section whatsoever for Mexico's best loved president "Benito Juárez," and not even a list of Mexico's presidents, although should you be researching "Antonio Ortíz Mena," treasury secretary under President Adolfo López Mateos, you will find almost a full (large) page devoted to him.
This is basically a collection of articles about people and issues that interest David W. Dent. All of the modern presidents since Cárdenas are included, along with many less important political figures, and you will find interesting, but short, discussions of various political parties such as the "Partido Centro Democrático (PCM)," the "Partido Acción Nacional (PAN)," or the "Partido de la Revolución Democrático (PRD).
Mexican cultural life is represented by sections on various movie stars and directors, including actresses María Félix and Delores del Río, actors Jorge Negrete, Pedro Armendáriz, Pedro Infante and Cantinflas, directors like Emilio "El Indio" Fernández and Héctor Alejandro Galindo, along with some nice movie still photos. The coverage of Mexican film is largely restricted to the "Golden Age of Mexican Cinema," which was the 1940s and the 1950s. There are only a few sentences that discuss contemporary Mexican cinema, as part of a larger discussion in a section titled "Cinema." The visual arts are represented by sections on major figures, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco, and music is largely represented by sections on famous composers… Augustín Lara and Carlos Chávez. Writers who have individual sections include Juan Rulfo, Carlos Fuentes, Jaime Sabines, and Laura Esquivel.
In addition to the sections on Mexican politics and on Mexican cultural life, there are sections that attempt to define and understand various topics and terms, such as "Bullfighting," "Charros," "Tlatelolco Massacre," "Feminism," "Gringo," and "Ejido." For example, in "Ejido" we discover that: "Prior to the revolution, millions of rural Mexicans were dispossessed of their land and condemned to debt peonage and slavery on large haciendas. Out of this situation came the idea of the ejido, a parcel of land granted by the Mexican state to peasant farmers living in rural areas." Almost two pages of useful discussion of land distribution follow, explaining how the philosophies changed with each succeeding presidential administration.
I think, though, that this expensive book is a rather odd one. Purporting to cover Mexican history of the past sixty years, Dent restricts his coverage largely to politics and the arts (although a baseball player, Fernando Valenzuela, manages to slide in by the end of the book, along with a full-page photograph). And why does he include sections (and photographs) on Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, but no section on any president in the first third of the century. And then, we find a section, "Mexican Revolution," finished in a page, only later to find twice as much coverage given to the U.S. event, "September 11, 2001."
Nevertheless, being a person who enjoys reading about Mexico, particularly in the form of short essays, I found much in this book that was interesting. Some of the articles make for good reading, much the way a short article in a magazine might attract me. If you're really looking for an "Encyclopedia," this isn't it. If you're looking to broaden your understanding of Mexican politics, or maybe pick up a few things about Mexican culture that you were not familiar with, this might be for you.
Editor's note: What interests Dr. Dent also interests me and this book has quickly become a personal favorite. I keep a copy on my desk and refer to it constantly. In this office, the Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico is a must-have.
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