UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Fin de Siècle Mexican Novelists A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish by Julio Alberto Enríquez June 2014 Dissertation Committee: Professor Raymond L. Williams, Chairperson Professor David Herzberger Professor Alessandro Fornazzari Copyright by Julio Alberto Enríquez 2014 The Dissertation of Julio Alberto Enríquez is approved: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Este trabajo se lo agradezco a todas las personas que de alguna manera u otra me brindaron su apoyo. Gracias a mi mamá quién a finales del siglo veinte me enseñó la importancia de la palabra y la lectura por medio de la escritura a máquina. Gracias a todos los maestros en Salinas, California que desde pequeño me ayudaron. In Wabash College, I am forever thankful to Clint Gasaway and Walter Blake for always making it possible for me to stay in school. In the Modern Language Department, I thank Dan Rogers for pushing me and encouraging me to pursue this career, and for exposing me to Juan Rulfo and Luis Buñuel. I thank Gilberto Gomez for listening to me and for challenging me in his rigorous seminars on the modern novel, donde conocí el mundo de Macondo y a don Quijote de la Mancha y a su Sancho Panza. I thank Greg Redding for being a great academic advisor and for forcing me to take an English Literature class despite my initial repercussion. Thanks to you, I discovered an entire new world of literatures. In the English Department, I am thankful to William Rosenberg for his brilliant discussion courses. I thank Julia Rosenberg for her militant help with my essays. I thank Joy Castro for being an inspiration and exposing me to Latino Literature. I am grateful to Agata Szczeszak-Brewer for that marvelous seminar on political violence. In the Philosophy Department, I thank Che85ryl L. Hughes for exposing me to iv existentialism, which forever changed my perception and conception of the world, thank you. In the University California, Riverside I thank Susan Antebi for all of her help and support during the early stages of my academic experience. También le doy muchas gracias a Alessandro Fornazzari por ser un ejemplo para mí y por esas conversaciones tan fructíferas en sus seminarios sobre la estética y política. Siempre le estaré muy agradecido a David Herzberger por haberme ayudado en momentos de transición al principio de mi maestría y doctorado. I thank my academic advisor Raymond L. Williams for always pushing me, for helping and encouraging me. Gracias por estar tan presente a lo largo de esta disertación, corrigiendo y sugiriendo. Gracias a todos los muchos pocos amigos que en su momento estuvieron ahí presentes. En especial, gracias a Ruby Ramírez y Yenisei Montes de Oca porque son como las tantas hermanas que ya tengo. Gracias a Nancy Durán por siempre estar ahí presente, por leer mi trabajo, por sus sugerencias por acompañarme en esta aventura académica y por apoyarme a lo largo de mis humores. A todos, gracias. v PREFACE Este estudio inició debido a una serie de inquietudes que surgieron en la ciudad de México en el 2010. Por allá me encontraba leyendo, pensando en lo que sería esta investigación. En retrospectiva, el tema o los temas estaban enfrente de mí. vi For Dulce, Shantal, Michelle, Shakira, Armando, and Marayah. I love you all, siempre. vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Fin de Siècle Mexican Novelists by Julio Alberto Enríquez Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Spanish University of California, Riverside, June 2014 Dr. Raymond L. Williams, Chairperson I consider how nineteenth and twentieth century fin de siècle Mexican novelists re-imagine the porfiriato. I focus on contemporary Mexican narrative that re-explores writers and themes from the end of the nineteenth-century during Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship—1876 to 1910. In chapter 2, I explore how Pedro Ángel Palou and Álvaro Uribe’s narrative fictionalize Porfirio Díaz. In chapter 3, I examine how Cristina Rivera Garza’s novel appropriates Walter Benjamin’s notion of the konvolute in order to revindicate ruined objects from the past. In chapter 4, I explore how Amado Nervo, Pedro Ángel Palou, and viii Jorge Volpi’s texts consider the fear and desire of Apocalypse. I argue that these writers re-imagine the past and emplot history differently, and as a result address México ’s present. The historical narratives of these novelists do not attempt to separate the past from the superimpositions of imagination, because to them this task is impossible to achieve. These novelists are aware that history is a series of superimposed imaginations. Thus, they undertake the task as historians and novelists to re-narrate and re-invent the superimposed imaginations of “the past as it came to be invented” in late nineteenth century. Thus, these writers look to the clout of the porfiriato. They attempt to make sense of the problematic aspects brought by modernization, only to find that history like fiction largely depends on who emplots the story. ix Table of Contents Chapter Title Page 1. Fin de Siècle México Introduction............................................ 1 The Elected Dictator: Porfirio Díaz......................13 Nineteenth Century Fin de Siècle Literature..............27 2. Two Fictionalizations of Porfirio Díaz in Pedro Ángel Palou and Álvaro Uribe’s Novels: Pobre patria mía and Expediente del atentado Introduction.............................................54 Pedro Ángel Palou’s Redemption of Porfirio Díaz in Pobre patria mía......................................70 Álvaro Uribe’s Dossier on Federico Gamboa and Porfirio Díaz............................................88 Conclusion..............................................117 3.- Prostitution and Modernity in Cristina Rivera Garza, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera and Federico Gamboa’s Texts Introduction............................................127 The Good Citizen of the Porfiriato: Two Texts by Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera........................................129 The Prodigal Son of the Porfiriato: Federico Gamboa and Santa...................................................151 The Collector of Ruins: Cristina Rivera Garza’s Nadie me verá llorar.............................................169 Conclusion..............................................203 x 4. Fin de Siècle Apocalyptic Novelists: Amado Nervo, Pedro Angel Palou, and Jorge Volpi Introduction............................................218 Approximations to Apocalypse............................220 The World After the End of the World: “La última guerra” by Amado Nervo..........................................237 Apocalypse in Memoria de los días by Pedro Ángel Palou...................................................247 Jorge Volpi’s “Half Distance” Apocalyptic Novel.........268 Conclusion..............................................282 5. Conclusion Fin de Siècle Novelists at the End of the Twentieth Century.................................................290 xi Chapter 1 Fin de Siècle México Introduction In this study, I consider how nineteenth and twentieth century fin de siècle Mexican novelists re-imagine the Porfiriato. I focus on contemporary Mexican narrative that re-explores writers and themes from the end of the nineteenth-century in México during Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship—1876 to 1910. In chapter 2, I explore how Pedro Ángel Palou and Álvaro Uribe’s narrative fictionalize Porfirio Díaz. In chapter 3, I examine how Cristina Rivera Garza’s novel appropriates Walter Benjamin’s notion of the konvolute in order to revindicate ruined objects from the past. In chapter 4, I explore how Amado Nervo, Pedro Ángel Palou, and Jorge Volpi’s texts consider the fear and desire of Apocalypse. I argue that these writers re-imagine the past and emplot history differently, and as a result address México ’s present. I consider nineteenth century fin de siècle beginning with Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship in 1876, to its conclusion in 1910 with the Mexican Revolution. The 1 twentieth century fin de siècle begins with Salinas de Gortari’s presidential election in 1988 and continues into México ’s current narco war. In both periods, as Leticia Reina indicates, there were parallel mobilizations and conflicts that engulfed the whole of Mexican Society: “During both eras of crisis, elites faced fundamental confrontations (between the bourgeoisie and the ruling class, among political groups fighting for access to power, even within their political parties)” (113). For her, the end of the twentieth century brought a growing wave of popular participation in elections, ending a long era of political inertia; mobilizations that paralleled the conflicts that preceded the Mexican Revolution.1 In contrast, for Reina “In the late twentieth century, however, power was no longer an aging Porfirio Díaz and the cientifico gerontocracy, but an old hegemony party (PRI) inserted in, and supported by, an equally sclerotic political structure” (118). Alan Knight states: “The Salinas administration –the ‘neo-Porfiriato,’ as he terms 1 Reina, Leticia. "Local Elections and Regime Crisis: The Political Culture of Indigenous Peoples." Cycles of Conflict, Centuries of Change: Crisis, Reform, and Revolution in Mexico. By Elisa Servín, Leticia Reina, and John Tutino. Durham: Duke UP, 2007. N. (113). Print. 2 it— by asking (rhetorically): ‘As