Death in the City : Suicide and the Social Imaginary in Modern Mexico / Kathryn A. Sloan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sloan, Kathryn A., author.

Series:

Violence in Latin American history ; 5.

Violence in Latin American history ; 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Suicide--Mexico--History--20th century.

Suicide.

Murder--Mexico--History--20th century.

Murder.

Death--Social aspects--Mexico--History--20th century.

Death.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

At the turn of the twentieth century, many observers considered suicide to be a worldwide social problem that had reached epidemic proportions. In Mexico City, violent deaths in public spaces were commonplace in a city undergoing rapid modernization. Crime rates mounted, corpses piled up in the morgue, and the media reported on sensational cases of murder and suicide. More troublesome still, a compelling death wish appeared to grip women and youth. Drawing on a range of sources from judicial records to the popular press, Death in the City investigates the cultural meanings of self-destruction in modern Mexico. The author examines responses to suicide and death and disproves the long-held belief that Mexicans possess a cavalier attitude toward suffering.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. A Social History of Suicide in Mexico City, 1900-1930

2. From Corpse to Cadaver: Suicide and the Forensic Gaze

3. Media, Moral Panic, and Youth Suicide

4. The Modern Disease: Medical Meanings and Approaches to Suicide

5. Death in the City: Suicide and Public Space

6. Stains of Blood: Death, Vernacular Mourning, and Suicide

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2017.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

9780520964532

0520964535

OCLC:

959373934