Serial Storytelling in Mexico from Nationhood to Now, 1821-2021

FAIN: FEL-281867-22

Amy E. Wright
St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO 63103-2097)

Completion of a book on serialized literature and storytelling in Mexico from the nineteenth century to the present.

If storytelling is essential to understanding ourselves as individuals and as groups, serialization is stories on steroids. In Mexico serialization has been an important feature of narrative since the nation’s birth. From nineteenth-century novels serialized in pamphlets, to comic strips, radio dramas and telenovelas of the twentieth century, this panoramic project offers key insights into larger notions of how national and cultural identities are formed through narrative installments. How has serialized storytelling functioned in Mexico over time? What accounts for seriality’s pervasiveness in the development of Mexican narrative? How does serial form define Mexican storytelling? Which characters, themes, and storylines have circulated repeatedly? How have those stories defined Mexico? The answers are found in five case studies highlighting five key artifacts, in five different media, at five different moments, spanning nearly two centuries of Mexican history.