Samuel Ramos y el género ensayístico: el perfil del hombre y la cultura en México (1934) como ensayo camuflado

Abstract

The exploration of Mexican identity that has caracterized the Mexican literature over the past century, has traditionally been carried out in the literary genre of the essay. But has the essay always been considered the ideal genre to study Mexicanity? To answer this question, we turn to The profile of man and culture in Mexico (1934) by Samuel Ramos, the initiator of the reflection on Mexican idiosyncrasy. Our analysis examines the relationship between this pioneering text on Mexicanity and the literary genre of the essay. Methodologically, we rely on the Theory of the essay by Gómez Martínez (1992). We unveil a discrepancy between the text genre the author imitates -the scientific treatise- and the true nature of his text -the essay-. In the context of the ungoing national debate on Mexicanity, a chaotic discussion, Ramos' preference for a more rational and systematic approach to Mexican identity that is reflected in the literary form of his Profile is perfectly explicable.