Abstract

ARIAS GOMEZ, María Eugenia. Three Texts by a Young Alfredo Chavero and an Approach to Travel Literature. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2023, n.66, pp.35-62.  Epub Apr 05, 2024. ISSN 0185-2620.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24485004e.2023.66.77815.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the three travel narratives selected for this work can be considered “historical sources”. This hypothesis issues from the contributions of Alfredo Chavero, the author, who dated these in 1864. On top of recording a panorama of the past and contemporary occurrences of the places he visited in Colima, Durango, and in the Sierra Madre Oriental, he also narrated his experiences and impressions during his journey, and recorded geographical, socioeconomical, political, and cultural data as well as about the local customs. The core of this investigation lies, first, in my description of the historical context and in a biographical account of Chavero, in which I propose a series of stages for his life, grounded on the theory of generations; second, in my analysis of the narratives from a historiographical perspective, based on authorities on the subject; and, third, in my approach to travel literature, where I link the thoughts of specialists with my own ideas. I conclude that the stories here studied can be classified as historical sources; that Chavero was a liberal writer from his youth, who was known for advocating the arts, archaeology, and history, among other things; and that by combining different approaches when studying primary sources, we can enhance our research through a multidisciplinary interchange of perspectives.

Keywords : historical sources; historiography; analysis; traveler; travel narratives; multidisciplinarity.

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