Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo, Clio’s Laws: On History and Language, trans. Mary Ellen Fieweger.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Clio's Laws: On History and Language by Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo Michael Jimenez (bio) Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo, Clio's Laws: On History and Language, trans. Mary Ellen Fieweger. University of Texas Press, 2019. Pp. 272. Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo's book will delight any so-called history buff. Its place in the long tradition of historiography stands out by focusing on literature and examples from Europe, the United States, and especially Latin America. The variety of Latinx sources illustrates for the reader that this is not a typical twentieth-century Eurocentric historiography. One realizes this is a different type of history book when the author references Chico Buarque, for example (36)! The book is separated into two parts: "On History" (the first seven chapters) and "On Language" (the last three chapters). Chapter 1 starts off with a list of ways to read history. None of these cleverly named perspectives (such as how historians like to gossip) are ultimately right or wrong. Tenorio-Trillo points out that these are the many ways history has been written and read. Already in the preface, he declares that the aim of the book is to define history, but also to complicate it because of the "riddle" of language (vii–viii). To illustrate, in chapter 2 he presents history and poetry as complementary, as "imagination charged with memory" (15). Historians often boast about their alleged neutrality and attempted objectivity when researching sources, but Tenorio-Trillo goes on a long historical journey through many sources to show that poetry and history are not as separate as some historians (and poets) would like us to believe. He makes the case that when historians study the elusive stuff we call culture, inevitably we are drawn into the world of poetry and literature. He continues the theme in chapter 3 by focusing on the historical imagination. He opens the chapter with this declaration: "I supinely accept the insignificance of the historian in cultural life, whether in Mexico or in the United States" (57–58). The question is, how are historians not boring? This is where Tenorio-Trillo turns to the imagination. Much as in the previous chapter, the author illustrates just how often historians openly rely on the imaginative, especially in their constant reading and writing. He uses the example of Don Quixote's imagination mixed with Sancho's practicality to tease out the mixture of history and imagination. Limits are set for it by erudition, melancholic irony, the classroom, pragmatism, and the nature of evidence. He closes the chapter by asking, what does the digital revolution do to our historical imagination and its reliance on memory? Chapter 4 answers questions about how to read history today. After defining the nature of the history book under four categories, he lists types of history books, such as historical fiction, analyzing its popularity with the public. At the very end of this chapter, he gives some important advice about reading history: "If reading history has done nothing more than make you happy that you are right, alcohol does a better job. When history annoys, questions, and creates doubts about identities, beliefs, and affiliations is when it's at its best" (107–8). Chapters 5 and 6 [End Page 149] examine the celebration of history and the nature of self-history or autobiography. The language of use and imagination is still at work behind the themes of these chapters. Chapter 7 seems to differ from the others since it presents six individual narratives that have an imaginary quality to them. In a sense, the historical imagination discussed in chapter 3 is the lens with which to read the other chapters, but there is an almost stand-alone essay quality to them. Chapter 8, the first in the second part, examines the backlash of monolingualism against the Spanish language in general. Even a basic understanding of history and language reveals that so-called American English is not pure, and that "Spanish has been as 'American' as la tarta de manzana (apple pie)" (170). Tenorio-Trillo finds the root cause of monolingualism in American intellectuals who should "start considering Spanish as more than an ethnic language that speaks of fiestas and siestas" (173...