Nothing, Nobody
Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake
Elena Poniatowska
Aurora Camacho de Schmidt
Arthur Schmidt
Series: Voices of Latin American Life
Copyright Date: 1995
Published by: Temple University Press
Pages: 384
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bsw9f
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Nothing, Nobody
Book Description:

September 19, 1985: A powerful earthquake hits Mexico City in the early morning hours. As the city collapses, the government fails to respond. Long a voice of social conscience, prominent Mexican journalist Elena Poniatowska chronicles the disintegration of the city's physical and social structure, the widespread grassroots organizing against government corruption and incompetence, and the reliency of the human spirit. As a transformative moment in the life of mexican society, the earthquake is as much a component of the country's current crisis as the 1982 debt crisis, the problematic economic of the last ten years, and the recent elections.

In masterfully weaving together a multiplicity of voices, Poniatowska has reasserted the inherent value and latent power of people working together. Punctuated by Poniatowska's own experiences and observations, these post disaster testimonies speak of the disruption of families and neighborhoods, of the destruction of homes and hospitals, of mutilation and death-the collective loss of a city. Drawing the reader dramatically into the scene of national horror through dozens of personal stories, Poniatowska demonstrates the importance of courage and self-reliance in redeeming life from chaos.

eISBN: 978-1-4399-0501-2
Subjects: Sociology
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. v-vi)
  3. INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES, VOICES OF LATIN AMERICAN LIFE
    INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES, VOICES OF LATIN AMERICAN LIFE (pp. vii-viii)
    ARTHUR SCHMIDT

    With the publication of Elena Poniatowska’sNothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake, Temple University Press inaugurates the series Voices of Latin American Life. Over the last generation, Latin Americans have lived through formidable historical experiences—revolutionary and counterrevolutionary wars, the rise and fall of national security dictatorships, controversial forms of religious revival, the precarious reemergence of elected civilian regimes, fundamental economic restructuring, and a flowering of grassroots organization. As the century draws to a close, the American hemisphere rushes toward unprecedented levels of economic integration. Although often less recognized, social and cultural integration is taking place in...

  4. FOREWORD: THE SHAKING OF A NATION
    FOREWORD: THE SHAKING OF A NATION (pp. ix-xxx)
    AURORA CAMACHO DE SCHMIDT and ARTHUR SCHMIDT

    On September 19 and 20, 1985, two powerful seismic movements devastated Mexico City.¹ Ten years later, the words of those who suffered in this tragedy still speak with force and dignity. InNada, nadie: Las voces del temblor, Elena Poniatowska has offered a testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit, reaffirming the claim made by Gabriel García Márquez on behalf of all Latin Americans in his 1982 Nobel Prize address: "to oppression, plundering, and abandonment, we respond with Iife."² Suffering and injustice abound inNothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake, but they are never disconnected from...

  5. NOTHING, NOBODY: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake
    NOTHING, NOBODY: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake (pp. 1-318)

    The sun and the Mexican people have been up for a long time. My window, outfitted with a screen, is open; the morning is still cool. Because of the time difference between Europe and Mexico, I have been awake for a few minutes (a strange thing for anyone who knows me!). For two days I have lived in a charming little hotel right in the middle of this monstrous megalopolis of 18 million inhabitants and 232 square miles. It is just a step away from the Paseo de la Reforma. The Zona Rosa is located on the other side of...

  6. [Illustrations]
    [Illustrations] (pp. None)
  7. [Illustrations]
    [Illustrations] (pp. None)
  8. GLOSSARY
    GLOSSARY (pp. 319-322)
  9. INDEX
    INDEX (pp. 323-327)