Roa Bárcena, José María (1827–1908)

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Roa Bárcena, José María (1827–1908)

An impassioned romantic at the beginning of his literary career (1849), José María Roa Bárcena became the originator of Mexico's modern short story with his series of tales in Noche al raso (1865). With "Lanchitas" (1877), rooted in oral tradition, he consolidated the fantasy genre in Mexico. His novel of ideas, La Quinta Modelo (1857), was an attempt to ridicule liberalism. Roa Bárcena supported the establishment of the Second Empire under Maximilian (1864–1867). His traumatic experience of the U.S. invasion of Mexico brought about Recuerdos de la invasion norteamericana (1883), which at the time was the best documented work on that era of history. During his long, prolific career, Roa Bárcena wrote in various genres: journalism, poetry, fiction, history, and criticism.

See alsoFrench Intervention (Mexico); Journalism in Mexico; Literature: Spanish America; Mexico, Wars and Revolutions: Mexican-American War.

                                 Rafael Olea Franco