Between Region and Nation: Two Modern Appropriations of Historia de Tlaxcala, by Diego Muñoz Camargo

Abstract

This article posits a comparative study of the ideological and political frameworks that influenced the production of two modern editions of Historia de Tlaxcala, a fundamental text in the colonial canon of Mexican literature and history. These editions, produced in Tlaxcala (1870) and Mexico City (1892), had inequivalent outcomes. While the 1870 edition remained unknown to most readers, the one from 1892 –edited by Alfredo Chavero– grew to be the most-read source on the subject by national and international experts for more than a century, despite its incompleteness. This investigation brings forth a series of proposals regarding this subject: 1) It is essential to elucidate the historical context of the production of both editions to understand their reception and value within the disciplines that study the Mexican colonial period; 2) The production of these editions in the 19^th century is related to tensions between political interests, both regional and federal, that used the Tlaxcalan heritage as a patriotic or nationalist token in modernizing discourses; 3) These interests determined how the text Historia de Tlaxcala was used and received.