| HB-232187-16 | Research Programs: Awards for Faculty | Omar Santiago Valerio-Jimenez | The US-Mexican War (1846-1848): Mexican Americans, Memory, and Citizenship | 8/1/2016 - 5/31/2017 | $42,000.00 | Omar | Santiago | Valerio-Jimenez | | | | University of Texas, San Antonio | San Antonio | TX | 78249-1644 | USA | 2015 | Latino History | Awards for Faculty | Research Programs | 42000 | 0 | 42000 | 0 | The writing of a book on the legacy of memories about the Mexican-American War among successive generations.
The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-48) is known as the America’s “forgotten war” because few Americans know the causes or consequences of the conflict that transformed the U.S. into a continental power. Yet, the war is central to Mexicans’ collective memory because it created the first generation of Mexican Americans and influenced the identity of subsequent generations. My book project addresses this paradox by identifying Mexican Americans’ choice of remembered events, exploring how memories were transmitted, and analyzing their meaning. My project uses a transnational approach by examining the political and social uses of memories of war in Mexico and in the United States. It will contrast each nation’s official histories with Mexican Americans’ depictions to illuminate ways in which alternative histories challenged, modified, or reinforced official portrayals. The study contributes to Mexican American history, memory studies, and American cultural history. |