The Magic Lantern
Having a Ball and Christmas Eve
Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Classics
| Author: | Jose Tomas de Cuellar | ISBN: | 9780199938988 |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press | Publication: | November 16, 2000 |
| Imprint: | Oxford University Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Jose Tomas de Cuellar |
| ISBN: | 9780199938988 |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Publication: | November 16, 2000 |
| Imprint: | Oxford University Press |
| Language: | English |
José Tomas de Cuéllar (1830-1894) was a Mexican writer noted for his sharp sense of humor and gift for caricature. Having a Ball and Christmas Eve are two novellas written in the costumbrista style, made popular in the mid-nineteenth century by the periodical press in which these sketches of contemporary manners were first published. The stories are a sensitive reflection of the effects of modernization brought by an authoritarian regime dedicated to order and progress. Christmas Eve describes a volatile middle class in which people pursue pleasure and entertainment without regard to morality. Having a Ball depicts women and their dedication to fashion. It is through them that Cuellar examines a society susceptible to foreign values, the importation of which radically altered the face of Mexico and its traditional customs.
José Tomas de Cuéllar (1830-1894) was a Mexican writer noted for his sharp sense of humor and gift for caricature. Having a Ball and Christmas Eve are two novellas written in the costumbrista style, made popular in the mid-nineteenth century by the periodical press in which these sketches of contemporary manners were first published. The stories are a sensitive reflection of the effects of modernization brought by an authoritarian regime dedicated to order and progress. Christmas Eve describes a volatile middle class in which people pursue pleasure and entertainment without regard to morality. Having a Ball depicts women and their dedication to fashion. It is through them that Cuellar examines a society susceptible to foreign values, the importation of which radically altered the face of Mexico and its traditional customs.
