Book Notes: The Day After the Conquest by Juan Miguel Zunzunegui

Finally, finally, finally, I have found a great history book on the founding of Mexico. I can use it as a textbook. This is excellent.

What I want is a book that avoids the extremes of “Spaniards were evil genocidal maniacs who evilly genocided sweet little Indians” (because it’s moronic crap) and “sweet little Spaniards peacefully and sweetly brought the light of culture to evil savages who were evilly genociding other savages” (because it’s also moronic crap). But all that’s on offer is one of these two dumb narratives.

I kept looking for an author who likes being Mexican, you know? Somebody who writes from the perspective of not hating his country and endlessly bemoaning its existence. Somebody who could explain that Mexico is great, and the components that went into its creation are great. Somebody who would zing and zang with patriotic enthusiasm for Mexico. Which is a crucial characteristic in a national historian. How did it happen that historians tend to burn with love for every country except their own? It’s weird.

In any case, I finally found a patriotic author in Juan Miguel Zunzunegui. I listened to his book The Day After the Conquest on Audible, and he reads it himself. You can hear in his voice how much he loves Mexico and how cool he finds it. Zunzunegui explains that Mexico was born from the encounter of the majestic Spanish culture and the fascinating indigenous cultures. Mexicans were not conquered by Spaniards. Mexicans came into existence from the meeting between Spaniards and Indians. 99% of people who defeated the mexicas (later renamed into Aztecs) in Tenochtitlan were indigenous. They were led by Hernán Cortés in a revolutionary struggle to liberate themselves. They were not victims but victors.

The narrative that Spaniards showed up, raped everybody in sight, and Mexicans are very sad today and have a lot of crime because they are sad over all those rapes 500 years ago is stupid and needs to go. I shit you not, that’s the Nobel Prize winning theory that dominates the official Mexican story of Mexican identity. No wonder Mexico isn’t achieving much with such a story of its own origin. If you tell yourself every day that your existence is a great misfortune and a crime, what positive outcomes can you expect? Look at Mexico today and you’ll see your answer.

I’m very psyched about this author. He’s just so very rare because it’s been impossible to find a historian of Mexico who doesn’t shit either on the Spanish or on the indigenous side of the Mexican equation. And it’s so dumb. Whatever happened in 1521, isn’t the way to go kind of just embrace it? Especially since you are very clearly a result of it?

Zunzunegui has many more books on Audible, and I want to see what else he’s written.