ABSTRACT
Nowhere in the Hispanic universe is the subject of one’s identity so central to life as in Mexico—and even more so, if that is conceivable, for those who dwell on its northern rim. Who are we? That, in a nutshell, is what countless Mexican thinkers have asked since the days when Hernán Cortés and his rapacious hordes subjugated the Aztecs and put the men to labor and bedded the women. Among sundry reasons, that is so because of mestizaje, the blending over centuries of two races and cultures, remnants from the Old World and the New; along the border, it is so because of proximity to the United States and, conversely, because many miles separate the region from Mexico City, mecca of the historic culture.
