The title of this informative and clearly written study is somewhat misleading as it does not cover the entirety of the nineteenth century. Its focus is on the years 1821-61. This is more than a survey of travelers’ impressions since the author has several specific and ambitious objectives. The work is intended to be a contribution, broadly stated, to the study of Germans in Mexico by examining the printed impressions of that nation available to the potential traveler, emigrant, and entrepreneur in Germany. In tracing the developing themes of German views and the attitudes these may have shaped, the author begins with a lengthy chapter that examines the ideas and influence of Alexander von Humboldt, who long remained a model for writers on Mexican topics. Other sources examined include those by relatively few German visitors to Mexico, promotional pieces written for potential colonists, and some wonderfully imaginative fiction based on exotic Mexican settings or circumstances. The key sources for the study are several popular weeklies that offered German audiences fairly regular, though mainly anonymous, articles about Mexico. The themes found in these German writings are familiar ones and occur frequently elsewhere in European and North American writings. They include the usual view that Mexico is wealthy, lovely in its natural settings, and that its capital was splendid. On the other hand, the nation was a political tempest and had a lower class that was abundant, apathetic, and repellent. A major concern of the author is to speculate as to what effect the published views might have had on possible immigration to Mexico. The situation of the lower middle-class potential emigrant is compared against the competing attractive qualities of the United States and Mexico. Negative opinions about Mexican politics and society in the press seem to have outweighed the argument that germanidad would be more easily preserved in Mexico. But presumed German rejection of Mexico must take into account other factors besides the tone or availability of printed views. Perhaps a more revealing examination would have been possible had this study gone beyond 1861 and included relevant information about how the German press somehow shaped opinion to favor known immigration to other Latin American states. The study also touches briefly on the possible relationship of views and opinions and the development of Prussian imperialism. These are stimulating topics and the author raises some important questions related to them, but the principal value of this volume is to acquaint the reader with the sources, scope, and biases of German opinion on Mexico.
Book Review|
May 01 1984
México en el siglo xix visto por los alemanes
México en el siglo xix visto por los alemanes
. By Boege, Brígida Margarita von Mentz de. Mexico City
: UNAM
, 1982
. Illustrations. Notes. Table. Maps. Bibliography
. Pp. 481
. Paper
.Hispanic American Historical Review (1984) 64 (2): 384–385.
Citation
Dieter G. Berninger; México en el siglo xix visto por los alemanes. Hispanic American Historical Review 1 May 1984; 64 (2): 384–385. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-64.2.384
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