SOURCE: Mullen, E. J. “Towards a Prototype of Mariano Azuela's La Luciérnaga.” Romance Notes 11, no. 3 (spring 1970): 518-21.

In the following essay, Mullen compares two versions of Azuela's La Luciérnaga, outlining discrepancies between the first complete edition of the novel and its original publication in serial form, and points out the influence of twentieth century avant-garde writing techniques on Azuela's writing style.

In 1932, the first edition of Mariano Azuela's La luciérnaga appeared in Madrid.¹ It has been acclaimed, almost unanimously, by Hispanists as second only to Los de abajo. John Brushwood considers it “Azuela's second best novel”² and Luis Leal affirmed: “sin duda alguna, La luciérnaga es después de Los de abajo, la mejor novela de Azuela.”³ Given the importance of the work in the history of Mexican letters and the marked attention devoted to its stylistic originality,⁴ it is important to note that...