City of Kings
By Mexican writer Rosario CastellanosTranslated by Robert S. Rudder and Gloria Chacón de Arjona
ISBN: 0-935480-63-3
Price: $15.00
Pages: 144
Written in 1960, these stories unfold in the same region as the recent Zapatista uprising in Mexico. Ciudad Real, as the Mexican city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas was formerly called, is the setting where Castellanos addresses the controversial questions of power, class, race and language. This anthology gives us insight into the historical background of a political struggle still going on today; the centuries-old domination of indigenous people by European colonists and their descendants, and the complex relationship that results between conquerors and conquered.
"Each story ultimately turns to the question of the
relationship of conquerors and conquered.... From Alaska to
the tip of Patagonia, this is a question still awaiting a
final answer. These stories attempt some specific interim
answers, making them fine reading for those concerned with
their great question."
--Booklist
"Castellanos is considered part of the Mexican 'Generation of 1950' and is one of Mexico's leading feminist authors.... City of Kings will be a major addition to collections of Mexican literature in translation." --Library Journal
"These stories... show Castellanos to be a first-rate
writer whose understanding of Mexican culture is as disturbing
as it is engrossing.... She manages her exposure of the racist
underpinnings of society brilliantly; more than 30 years after
these stories were written, the inhumanity they portray
continues to chill the soul."
--Publishers Weekly