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Contemporáneos in Mexican Intellectual History, 1928-1931

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Edward J. Mullen
Edward J. Mullen*
Affiliation:
Department of Modern Languages, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
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Extract

The controversial Mexican literary periodical Contemporáneos (1928-1931) has recently received considerable attention from literary critics who view it as a significant document in the history of twentieth-century Mexican belles lettres. The journal was not, however, exclusively a literary review but, as the subtitle (Revista de Cultura Mexicana) clearly indicates, a magazine of varied cultural pursuits as well. It contained a number of important essays in which the members of Mexico's post-revolutionary intelligentsia attempted to define and interpret national problems. It will be the purpose of this essay to discuss the role played by the journal in Mexican intellectual history.

In June 1928 the first issue of Contemporáneos appeared in the bookshops of Mexico City. The events leading up to its publication and the reasons for its sudden cessation in December 1931 can be traced to the activities of a group of young Mexican intellectuals later to be classified by the title of this their most significant literary review.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1971 , pp. 121 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1971

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References

1 For the most complete study of the literary aspects of the journal and the group of writers who edited it see Forster, Merlin, Los Contemporáneos 1920-32, perfil de un experimento vanguardista mexicano (México: Ediciones de Andrea, 1964)Google Scholar. Professor Forster's work contains copious bibliographic data on all of the editors of the journal (see pp. 127-145). No attempt has been made to reproduce these citations in the present study which focuses primarily on nonliterary aspects of the review.

2 Peña, Alfredo Cardona, Semblanzas mexicanas (México: Ediciones de Libro-Mex., 1955), p. 126 Google Scholar.

3 For a discussion of the influence of this group on Mexican thought, see Santos, Maria Rosa, “El Ateneo de la Juventud: su influencia en la vida intelectual de México” (unpubl. diss., University of Florida, 1965)Google Scholar.

4 All references to the journal Contemporáneos will follow this form in my text.

5 Reyes, Alfonso (Obras Completas, 18 vols. (Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1958, XII, 175)Google Scholar spoke of him in the following manner: “Era Genaro Estrada una de esas instituciones de la ciudad, uno de esos hombres centrales que hacen posible la organización de las pléyades literarias (El Pen Club de México sólo vivió mientras estuvo a su sombra, y lo mismo la revista Contemporáneos). Era un padrino natural de los libros. Y era la suya una de esas bondades sin aureola y sin exceso de santidad, tan lejana de la falsa austeridad y de los morbosos lujos de aislamiento y tebaidas [sic].“

6 Peña, Cardona, Semblanzas, p. 21 Google Scholar.

7 For example, only two issues before the cessation of Contemporáneos the editors welcomed the collaboration of Antonio Castro Leal: “Contemporáneos cuenta a partir de este número, con la inteligente colaboración que desde Europa le ofrece Antonio Castro Leal, ensayista muy estimado por sus estudios de la literatura inglesa” (C, XI, 38-39, 112).

8 Peña, Cardona, Semblanzas, p. 121 Google Scholar.

9 Spell, Jefferson Rea, “Mexican Literary Periodicals of the Twentieth Century,” PMLA 54 (September 1939): 840 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Personal letter from Salvador Novo, 30 June 1967.

11 Gómez, Abreu, Las revistas literarias de México (México: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1963), p. 183 Google Scholar.

12 With reference to the problem of financial backing Abreu Gómez, (Las revistas, p. 183 Google Scholar) wrote: “Bernardo, entusiasta y crédulo, pensó que era posible que cada número lo pagara una secretaría. Hizo gestiones … hablamos con señores y señorones y hasta con señoras de copete…. Al fin nos dimos cuenta que hacía falta otro Genaro Estrada…. La revista había muerto.“

13 Gómez, Ermilo Abreu, Sala de retratos (México: Ediciones Botas, 1946), p. 47 Google Scholar.

14 A footnote to the essay reads: “Segundo capítulo del libro en prensa, Cinco ensayos de la revolución mexicana” (p. 34). It has been difficult to verify the publication of this book.

15 E. Martínez Ulloa in his essay “Cultura y política” (C, VI, 20, 57-80) also asserted that the amelioration of Mexico's political organization was dependent upon the creation of a spirit of concern among the general populace: “Adoptemos una actitud severa y en lugar de lamentarnos de nuestros males, procuremos corregirlos, indagando sus causas y viendo la manera de no reincidir en ellos” (p. 76).

16 Ramos’ essay was included in the anthology El ensayo mexicano moderno, 2 vols., José Luis Martínez, ed. (México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1958), 2: 455-469.

17 Heredia's, Jose G. monograph “En busca de las siete ciudades” (C, II, 5, 160-193; IV, 14, 314–340)Google Scholar also falls within this grouping. The study is a defense I and justification of Coronado's activities in Mexico.

18 Two translations of indigenous literary works appeared in the journal: I Ortiz de Montellano, “Antiguos cantares mexicanos” (C, IV, 12, 100-119), and A Mediz Bolio, “El Chilam Balam de Chumayel” (C, IV, 13, 240-256).

19 Briefer articles on this theme are: Aaron Copland, “Carlos Chávez, compositor” (C, II, 7, 407-412), and Xavier Villaurrutia, “Fichas sin sobre para Lazo” (C,I,2, 117-122).

20 For commentary on the influence of Ortega y Gasset in Mexico see Berndtson, Arthur, “Latin American Philosophy,” in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 8 vols., Edwards, Paul, ed. (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1967), 4: 397 Google Scholar; Ramos, Samuel, Historia de la filosofía en México (Mexico: Imprenta Universitaria, 1943), pp. 149–158 Google Scholar; Romanell, Patrick, Making of the Mexican Mind (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1952), pp. 141–185 Google Scholar; Reulet, Aníbal Sánchez, La filosofía latinoamericana contemporánea (Mexico: Unión Panamericana, 1949), pp. 14–15 Google Scholar; and Bodet, Jaime Torres, Contemporáneos, notas de crítica (México: Ediciones Contemporáneos, 1928), p. 124 Google Scholar.

21 Ramos, , Filosofía en México, p. 149 Google Scholar.

22 Henrique González Casanova has commented on the universalist orientation of the Contemporáneos in his essay, “Reseña de la poesía mexicana siglo XX,” México en el Arte, nos. 10-11 (1950), p. 18: “Otro elemento que los caracteriza es su mexicanismo, nacionalista, pero no por los temas y los giros como lo hubieran querido muchos de sus contemporáneos de miradas más limitadas, sino por el afán de situar a México dentro de lo universal en términos de igualdad, y sin temor al qué dirán de las naciones extranjeras” (p. 18).

23 Ibid., p. 19.