SOURCE: Bradley, D. “The Thematic Import of Azuela's Los De Abajo: A Defence.” Forum for Modern Language Studies 15, no. 1 (January 1979): 14-25.

In the following essay, Bradley defends Azuela's representation of the Mexican revolution in his Los de Abajo, arguing that although the revolution was an integral part of his novel, Azuela did not intend to present a history of the revolution in his work.

Critical discussion of Mariano Azuela's novel, Los de abajo, as if taking its cue from the original subtitle of the work, Cuadros y escenas de la Revolución, invariably makes reference to Azuela's failure to present an adequate account of the Mexican Revolution or to grasp its overall meaning.¹ Both in the novel, however, and elsewhere in Azuela's writings there are numerous indications that such references are mistaken and misleading. It was not, after all, Azuela's intention to write a history of the Revolution...