Cuentistas mexicanos modernos, entre tópicos, cánones y creación crítica

Abstract

Cuentistas mexicanos modernos is a short story anthology of fiction stories that bring together Mexican authors of the 1950’s. This anthology was compiled by Emmanuel Carballo, a Mexican literary critic, journalist and promotor of cultural affairs during the second half of the twentieth century. This analysis focuses on the prologue and profiles broached in the anthology, as well as on the very concept of anthology. Alfonso Reyes, Alberto Porqueras, and Justo Serna provide the theoretical basis for the study, which sets aside the stories gathered in the publication and concentrates mainly on topics which Carballo treated, like Mexicanism and tradition. In addition, he established a canon: the division of Mexican literature into realist and fantastic veins. At the same time, he practiced what became known as critical creation on the authors anthologized in this 1956 publication.