Cult of Defeat in Mexico’s Historical Fiction This page intentionally left blank Cult of Defeat in Mexico’s Historical Fiction Failure, Trauma, and Loss BRIAN L. PRICE CULT OF DEFEAT IN MEXICO’S HISTORICAL FICTION Copyright © Brian L. Price, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-1-137-00847-3 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43566-1 ISBN 978-1-137-00856-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137008565 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: June 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 H ay que hacer la historia de las derrotas. [The history of defeat needs to be written.] —Ricardo Piglia, Respiración artificial Yo sé (todos lo saben) que la derrota tiene una dignidad que la ruidosa victo- ria no merece . . . [I know (everyone knows) that defeat enjoys a dignity that noisy victory does not deserve . . . ] —Jorge Luis Borges, “Nota para un cuento fantástico,” L a cifra Crisis, however, facile the conception, is unescapably a central element in our endeavors toward making sense of our world. —Frank Kermode, T he Sense of an Ending I spoke just now of “having suffered together” and, indeed, suffering in common unifies more than joy does. Where national memories are con- cerned, griefs are of more value than triumphs, for they impose duties, and require a common effort. —Ernst Renan, “What Is a Nation?” I ’m writing for the survivors, that they may know what it was they survived. I’m writing, if you will, for posterity, that people may understand what went wrong and resist the historical imperative of judging us too harshly. —Don Delillo, Great Jones Street Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. —Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Stellar Moments of Mexican History and the Rhetoric of Failure 1 1 A Mexican Comedy of Errors in Jorge Ibargüengoitia’s Self-Correcting Independence History 2 1 2 Cross-Dressing the Second Empire in Fernando del Paso’s Noticias del imperio 5 9 3 The Voices of the Master in Enrique Serna’s El seductor de la patria 9 9 4 Paralysis and Redemption in Three Novels about the Mexican-American War 135 Conclusion: Bicentennial Reflections on Failure 1 67 Works Cited 171 I ndex 1 85 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I will admit that the potential irony of failing to write a book on failure crossed my mind more than a few times during the process of completing Cult of Defeat. Fortunately, I have been associated with and surrounded by good colleagues, honest readers, and supportive friends and family who helped me keep focus, refine my ideas, and push through. I owe a debt of gratitude to Nicolas Shumway, who has been a good friend, outstanding mentor, and enthusiastic supporter of this project for many years. I am also grateful to Héctor Domínguez Rubalcava, Charles Rossman, and César Salgado at the University of Texas at Austin as well as to Sara Poot-Herrera at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who offered valuable insights on early drafts of this manuscript. The quality of this book was immeasurably improved by Ignacio Sánchez Prado and José Luis Venegas, two great friends who read the entire manuscript, made invaluable biblio- graphic recommendations, and were generous with their time and con- siderable talents. Thanks are also in order for Rebecca Biron, Margaret Ewalt, Jerid Francom, Kristine Ibsen, Ryan Long, Kathryn Mayers, and Anna Nogar, who each read and commented on various chapter drafts. My appreciation to the anonymous reader at Palgrave Macmillan for thought- ful and constructive criticisms, and to my editor, Farideh Koohi-Kamali, and her assistants for their support in publishing this book. Over the years the ideas in Cult of Defeat were started, shaped, and refined in conversations, conference panels, and cafés with many profes- sors, colleagues, and friends: Leopoldo Bernucci, Jonathon Brown, Irma Cantú, Cristina Carrasco, Russell Cluff, Oswaldo Estrada, Samuel Gordon, Rob Martinsen, Robert McKee Irwin, Seymour Menton, Garrett Oleen, Sarah Pollack, Nicolas Poppe, Sara Potter, Howard Quackenbush, Cristina Rivera Garza, Miguel Rodríguez Lozano, José Ramón Ruisánchez, Ryan Schmitz, Michael Schuessler, John Trimble, Elena Urrutia, and Oswaldo Zavala. I would like to express heartfelt appreciation to my colleagues at Wake Forest University for their support and mentoring: Irma Alarcón, Mary Friedman, Luis González, Anne Hardcastle, Linda Howe, Sol