Mexican literature

Mexico's literature has its antecedents in the literatures of the indigenous

peoples of Mesoamerica and the Spanish literature. With the arrival of the
Spanish a new literature was produced in the newly established Viceroyalty
of New Spain. The literature of New Spain was highly influenced by
the Spanish Renaissance which was represented in all the Spanish
literature of the time, and local productions also incorporated numerous
terms commonly used in the vernacular of the viceroyalty and some of the
topics discussed in the works of the period shaped a distinctive variant of
the Spanish literature produced in Mexico.
During the colonial era, New Spain was home to Baroque writers such
as Bernardo de Balbuena, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, Juan Ruiz de
Alarcón, Francisco de Castro, Luis Sandoval Zapata, Sor Juana Inés de la
Cruz, Diego de Ribera and Rafael Landivar. Towards the independence a
new wave of writers gave the initial struggle for the emancipation of
national literature from the literature of the Spanish peninsula: Diego José
Abad, Francisco Javier Alegre and Friar Servando Teresa de Mier.
Towards the end of colonial rule in New Spain arose figures like José
Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, El Periquillo Sarniento is considered as an
emblem of the Mexican literature and the first modern novel written in the
Americas. By the second half of that century, works like Los mexicanos
pintados por sí mismos, a manners book that gives a rough idea of how
intellectuals of the time saw the rest of his countrymen. Towards the end of
the century, during the Porfirio Diaz government, Mexican writers inclined
towards the dominant European trends of the time.
HISTORY OF MEXICO

The history of Mexico, a country in the southern portion of North America,

covers a period of more than three millennia. First populated more than
13,000 years ago,[1] the territory had complex indigenous civilizations
before being conquered and colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century.
One of the important aspects of Mesoamerican civilizations was their
development of a form of writing, so that Mexico's written history stretches
back hundreds of years before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519. This
era before the arrival of Europeans is called variously the prehispanic era
or the precolumbian era.
The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan became the Spanish capital Mexico City,
which was and remains the most populous city in Mexico.
From 1521, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire incorporated the
region into the Spanish Empire, with New Spain its colonial era name
and Mexico City the center of colonial rule. It was built on the ruins of the
Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and became the capital of New Spain. During
the colonial era, Mexico's long-established Mesoamerican civilizations
mixed with European culture. Perhaps nothing better represents this hybrid
background than Mexico's languages: the country is both the most
populous Spanish-speaking country in the world and home to the largest
number of Native American language speakers in North America. For three
centuries Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire, whose legacy is a
country with a Spanish-speaking, Catholic and largely Western culture.
After a protracted struggle (1810–21) for independence, New Spain
became the sovereign nation of Mexico, with the signing of the Treaty of
Córdoba. A brief period of monarchy (1821–23), called the First Mexican
Empire, was followed by the founding of the Republic of Mexico,
established under a federal constitution in 1824. Legal racial categories
were eliminated, abolishing the system of castas. Slavery was not
abolished at independence in 1821 or with the constitution in 1824, but was
eliminated in 1829. Mexico continues to be constituted as a federated
republic, under the Mexican Constitution of 1917.
CULTURE OF MEXICO

The culture of Mexico reflects the country's complex history and is the
result of the gradual blending of native culture (particularly Mesoamerican)
with Spanish culture and other immigrant cultures.
First inhabited more than 10,000 years ago, the cultures that developed in
Mexico became one of the cradles of civilization. During the 300-year rule
by the Spanish, Mexico became a crossroad for the people and cultures of
Europe, Africa and Asia. The government of independent Mexico actively
promoted shared cultural traits in order to create a national identity.
The culture of an individual Mexican is influenced by their familial ties,
gender, religion, location and social class, among other factors. In many
ways, contemporary life in the cities of Mexico has become similar to that in
neighboring United States and Europe, with provincial people conserving
traditions more so than the city dwellers.

LANGUAGE OF MEXICO
Many different languages are spoken in Mexico. The indigenous languages
are from eleven distinct language families, including four isolates and one
that immigrated from the United States. The Mexican government
recognizes 68 national languages, 63 of which are indigenous, including
around 350 dialects of those languages. The large majority of the
population is monolingual in Spanish. Some immigrant
and indigenous populations are bilingual, while some indigenous people
are monolingual in their languages. Mexican Sign Language is spoken by
much of the deaf population, and there are one or two indigenous sign
languages as well.
The government of Mexico uses Spanish for most official purposes, but in
terms of legislation, its status is not that of an official primary language. The
Law of Linguistic Rights establishes Spanish as one of the country's
national languages, along with 63 distinct indigenous languages (from
seven large families, and four considered language isolates). The law,
promulgated in 2003, requires the state to offer all of its services to its
indigenous citizens in their mother tongues, but in practice this is not yet
the case. Note that, as defined by mutual intelligibility, the number of
spoken languages in Mexico is much greater than the 63 national
languages, because National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI)
counts distinct ethnic groups for the purposes of political classification. For
instance, the Mixtec are a single ethnicity and therefore count as a single
language for governmental/legal purposes, but there are a dozen distinct
Mixtec dialect regions, each of which includes at least one variety that is
not mutually intelligible with those of the other dialect regions (Josserand,
1983), and Ethnologue counts 52 varieties of Mixtec that require separate
literature. Ethnologue currently counts 282 indigenous languages currently
spoken in Mexico, plus a number of immigrant languages (Lewis et al.
2018).
Due to the long history of marginalization of indigenous groups, most
indigenous languages are endangered, with some languages expected to
become extinct within years or decades, and others simply having
populations that grow slower than the national average. According to
the Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI)
and National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), while 10–14% of
the population identifies as belonging to an indigenous group, around 6%
speak an indigenous language.
There are other languages not native to Mexico that are spoken in the
country. Besides Spanish, the most populous are probably English,
German (Plautdietsch), Arabic, Chinese and Japanese.

RELIGION OF MEXICO
Catholic Christianity is the dominant religion in Mexico, representing about
83% of the total population as of 2010. In recent decades the number of
Catholics has been declining, due to the growth of
other Christian denominations – especially various Protestantchurches
and Mormonism – which now constitute 10% of the population, and non-
Christian religions. Conversion to non-Catholic denominations has been
considerably slower than in Central America, and central Mexico remains
one of the most Catholic areas in the world.
Mexico is a secular country and has allowed freedom of religion since the
mid-19th century. Traditional Protestant denominations and the open
practice of Judaism established themselves in the country during that era.
Modern growth has been seen in Evangelical Protestantism, Mormonism
and in folk religions, such as Mexicayotl.[2][3] Buddhism and Islam have both
made limited inroads through immigration and conversion.

RELIGION OF MEXICO
Catholic Christianity is the dominant religion in Mexico, representing about
83% of the total population as of 2010. In recent decades the number of
Catholics has been declining, due to the growth of
other Christian denominations – especially various Protestantchurches
and Mormonism – which now constitute 10% of the population, and non-
Christian religions. Conversion to non-Catholic denominations has been
considerably slower than in Central America, and central Mexico remains
one of the most Catholic areas in the world.
Mexico is a secular country and has allowed freedom of religion since the
mid-19th century. Traditional Protestant denominations and the open
practice of Judaism established themselves in the country during that era.
Modern growth has been seen in Evangelical Protestantism, Mormonism
and in folk religions, such as Mexicayotl.[2][3] Buddhism and Islam have both
made limited inroads through immigration and conversion.

FOOD OF MEXICO

Mexican street food is one of the most varied parts of the cuisine. It can
include tacos, quesadillas, pambazos, tamales, huaraches, alambres, al
pastor, and food not suitable to cook at home, including barbacoa, carnitas,
and since many homes in Mexico do not have or make use of ovens,
roasted chicken.] One attraction of street food in Mexico is the satisfaction
of hunger or craving without all the social and emotional connotation of
eating at home, although longtime customers can have something of a
friendship/familial relationship with a chosen vendor.
The best known of Mexico’s street foods is the taco, whose origin is based
on the pre-Hispanic custom of picking up other foods with tortillas as
utensils were not used The origin of the word is in dispute, with some
saying it is derived from Nahuatl and others from various Spanish
phrases. Tacos are not eaten as the main meal; they are generally eaten
before midday or late in the evening. Just about any other foodstuff can be
wrapped in a tortilla, and in Mexico, it varies from rice, to meat (plain or in
sauce), to cream, to vegetables, to cheese, or simply with plain chile
peppers or fresh salsa. Preferred fillings vary from region to region with
pork generally found more often in the center and south, beef in the north,
seafood along the coasts, and chicken and lamb in most of the country.
Another popular street food, especially in Mexico City and the surrounding
area is the torta. It consists of a roll of some type, stuffed with several
ingredients. This has its origins in the 19th century, when the French
introduced a number of new kinds of bread. The torta began by splitting the
roll and adding beans. Today, refried beans can still be found on many
kinds of tortas. In Mexico City, the most common roll used for tortas is
called telera, a relatively flat roll with two splits on the upper surface. In
Puebla, the preferred bread is called a cemita, as is the sandwich. In both
areas, the bread is stuffed with various fillings, especially if it is a hot
sandwich, with beans, cream (mayonnaise is rare) and some kind of hot
chile pepper
The influence of American fast food on Mexican street food grew during the
late 20th century. One example of this is the craving of the hot dog, but
prepared Sonoran style. They are usually boiled then wrapped in bacon
and fried together. They are served in the usual bun, but the condiments
are typically a combination of diced tomatoes, onions and jalapeño
peppers.