Death in the City
Suicide and the Social Imaginary in Modern Mexico
Nonfiction, History, Americas, Mexico
| Author: | Kathryn A. Sloan | ISBN: | 9780520964532 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press | Publication: | April 11, 2017 |
| Imprint: | University of California Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Kathryn A. Sloan |
| ISBN: | 9780520964532 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press |
| Publication: | April 11, 2017 |
| Imprint: | University of California Press |
| Language: | English |
At the turn of the twentieth century, many observers considered suicide to be a worldwide social problem that had reached epidemic proportions. In Mexico City, violent deaths in public spaces were commonplace in a city undergoing rapid modernization. Crime rates mounted, corpses piled up in the morgue, and the media reported on sensational cases of murder and suicide. More troublesome still, a compelling death wish appeared to grip women and youth. Drawing on a range of sources from judicial records to the popular press, Death in the City investigates the cultural meanings of self-destruction in modern Mexico. The author examines responses to suicide and death and disproves the long-held belief that Mexicans possess a cavalier attitude toward suffering.
At the turn of the twentieth century, many observers considered suicide to be a worldwide social problem that had reached epidemic proportions. In Mexico City, violent deaths in public spaces were commonplace in a city undergoing rapid modernization. Crime rates mounted, corpses piled up in the morgue, and the media reported on sensational cases of murder and suicide. More troublesome still, a compelling death wish appeared to grip women and youth. Drawing on a range of sources from judicial records to the popular press, Death in the City investigates the cultural meanings of self-destruction in modern Mexico. The author examines responses to suicide and death and disproves the long-held belief that Mexicans possess a cavalier attitude toward suffering.
