In 1987 scholars and students of Mexican cultural history were greatly pleased to read the original Spanish version of this work. In many respects, the publication of Viqueira Albán’s monograph marked a turning point in colonial cultural history and represented a shining example of the political and social information that can be gleaned from the study of popular diversions as diverse as the bullfight and the performance of jugglers. It now finally appears in a truly fine English translation for the benefit of non-Spanish speaking students and scholars of Latin American history and culture.
In this highly detailed and nuanced analysis, the author seeks to determine the nature of the much proclaimed (by historians) decline in propriety in New Spain during the eighteenth century. The author questions whether society changed at all and points to a Spanish and Creole elite who, under the guise of Enlightenment thought, could no longer...
