Cubanos en México: “dos mexicanos más

Abstract

Globalization in contemporary life suggests the suitability for redefining the role and place in national literary historiography for those “foreign born” in order to determine how and to what point they belong to the culture and literary history of another nation. This essay examines the issue using the example of two Cuban figures, both exiled from their homeland and who identified themselves with literary and political life in Mexico. We are dealing with José Martí and José María Heredia, who lived and wrote in Mexico, identified themselves with national life, and, in the case of Heredia, occupied official positions in the government. We are proposing to clarify if they are Cubans or “two more Mexicans,” and to what point do their works respond to the influence of the Mexican literary environment and its correspondent traditions, modes and linguistic codes.