Nuevas perspectivas sobre etnicidad, genero, subjetividad europea, y construccion de geografias coloniales. El discurso colonial en textos novohispanos se apoya en trabajos recientes sobre el analisis del discurso y la critica de la representacion que se estan desarrollando en areas como antropologia, historia, y geografia cultural. Al analizar una gran variedad de textos, tales como el Diario de Colon, la Lettera de Vespucio, el Alboroto y motin de Siguenza y Gongora, el Mexico en 1554 de Cervantes de Salazar, la Grandeza mexicana de Balbuena, y la Historia antigua de Mexico de Clavijero, traza los origenes y usos del saber geopolitico desde la epoca clasica hasta el siglo XVIII novohispano, para aportar nuevas perspectivas sobre etnicidad, genero, subjetividad europea, y construccion de geografias coloniales. Este libro mira los movimientos de ideas mas alla de las fronteras espaciales y temporales, e identifica la percepcion europea del cuerpo americano como un cuerpo abyecto, que desestabiliza el sistema, la identidad y el orden, y explora la relacion del cuerpo y del espacio como una continuidad de las practicas y las representaciones estrategicas del discurso colonial, enfocandose en la construccion de la identidad, y en las definiciones de las fronteras fisicas y culturales. Este estudio va mas alla de las lecturas previas, y sugiere nuevas direcciones para el analisis e interpretacion de la espacialidad, corporalidad y agencia en la America espanola colonial. SERGIO RIVERA-AYALA es profesor en la Universidad de California, Riverside.

The eighteenth century in New Spain witnessed major changes: among these, one of the most significant was the adoption of French customs among the upper groups of society in response to the spreading ideas of the Enlightenment. In addition, New Spain's economy and culture were also changing radically. The spread of these French-inspired ideas and customs soon reached the rest of urban society. These new ideas, it has been assumed, brought a relaxation of social customs. But Viqueira Alban takes this assumption, and raises the question: Was it really a period of relaxation of social customs, in this age of "growth without development?" He discovered that the movement of rural workers and their families to urban centers created a concern within the church and government hierarchy about the threat of disorder, leading to the need for new social restraints. By the end of the eighteenth century, New Spain was characterized by a very rich, agitated, and varied social life. This book explores the history of Mexico City in the eighteenth century, focusing on society, social classes, elite culture and popular culture. Propriety and Permissiveness examines how the elite culture in Mexico City attempted to create more space between themselves and the masses. Their anxiety about their status encouraged laws and practices that enforced social space. Bullfighting, the theater, street diversions, and the game of pelota (called jai-alai in the United States today) are all examined as part of the culture of this period. This new text is ideal for colonial Latin American survey courses, courses on the history of Mexico and Latin American literature, and courses on the popular culture and social history of Latin America.