José Emilio Pacheco (Mexico, 1939–)

Pacheco is regarded by some as the foremost Mexican poet after Paz, as well as being an important prose writer. From the outset, however, we may feel a certain surprise at finding him categorized alongside poets like Cardenal, Fernández Retamar and Dalton. The kind of adjectives commonly used to describe his poetry: “meditative”, “introspective”, “philosophical”, “sceptical” and “ironic” seem to set him apart. Indeed, if we perceive, with Alemany Bey, colloquial poetry to be closely associated with overt political commitment and protest (1977, 85–6), Pacheco does stand apart. Though such elements are present in some of his poems, his commitment is of a different kind.

Like Dalton's, Pacheco's poetry has it roots in that of the previous generation Rocío Oviedo writes:

She goes on to emphasize “la aceptación del hecho cotidiano en su anécdota y el retorno a lo histórico frente a un presente amenazado por el devenir que no conlleva un sentido de progreso” (ibid., 71). Hence derive prominent elements of scepticism, pessimism and irony. For his part, Gordon (1990) asserts that pacheco distances himself from other conversational poets by virtue of the fact that his poetry is “extremadamente culta y hasta cuasi políglota, cargada de nostalgias por el canon elevado del Establishment anterior” (265).