Guardians of Discourse: Journalism and Literature in Porfirian Mexico

Kevin M. Anzzolin's book Guardians of Discourse won the 2025 LASA Mexico Section Best Book in the Humanities award. It examines the role and representation of journalism in literary texts from Porfirian Mexico to argue that these writings created a literate, objective, refined, and informed public. Anzzolin demonstrates that a primary goal of the lettered class was to define and shape the character of public life, establish the social position of citizens, and interrogate the character of civil institutions.

Format: Hardback
Length: 284 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2024
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Honorable Mention for the 2025 LASA Mexico Section for Best Book in the Humanities: During Porfirio Díaz's thirty-year rule, Mexico faced a complex relationship with the press, employing various strategies to shape public discourse and promote an informed citizenry. While numerous journalists faced imprisonment on charges of defamation or slander, Díaz's government also subsidized multiple newspapers to expand literacy and enhance the regime's image. In his book, Guardians of Discourse, Kevin M. Anzzolin examines the role and representation of journalism in literary texts from Porfirian Mexico, arguing that these writings played a crucial role in creating a literate, objective, refined, and informed public. By exploring works by Porfirian writers such as Emilio Rabasa, Ángel del Campo, Rafael Delgado, Laura Méndez de Cuenca, and Salvador Quevedo y Zubieta, Anzzolin demonstrates that the lettered class sought to define and shape the character of public life, establish the social position of citizens, and interrogate the character of civil institutions. These elite letrados, referred to as "guardians of discourse," aimed to define the types of discourses that would support the transformed Mexico of the Díaz regime and forge a truly national literature that could be discussed among a broader circle of lettered thinkers. Additionally, they sought to construct an extensive and active public capable of debating political and social issues through a press befitting a modern nation-state and create a press that would be independent, illuminating, and distinguished. Through an innovative look at Mexico's public sphere through literary fiction in the Porfirian era, Anzzolin contributes to our knowledge of Mexican and Latin American political, cultural, and literary history.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496233370