Mexican picaresque narratives

the long version

This book examines eight narratives that illustrate the picaresque subgenre and its episodic structure, a subgenre featured in many Mexican narratives. In this type of narrative, a single protagonist provides the only link between episodes; survives by cunning in a world marked by hunger and physical deprivation; serves many masters and acts in many roles; is generally alienated; and meets many characters, who form a gallery of human types. All eight narratives are shown to share many of the attributes of the picaresque family, yet each constitutes a unique artistic creation, with variations in context, narrative technique, style, setting, characterization, and focus.