Adventures into Mexico: American Tourism Beyond the Border

This collection should be useful to scholars investigating cultural and social relations between Americans and Mexicans south of the border.

Adventures into Mexico brings together a variety of materials useful for the cultural study of U.S. tourism in Mexico. Scholarly analyses examine the rise of modern tourism in Mexico City and coastal beach resorts, the tourist market for Mexican folk art, and the establishment of retirement colonies in Ajijic, Chapala, and San Miguel de Allende. Other chapters move toward the personal memoir, recounting the experiences of scholars and intellectuals. Moving between the personal and the academic, the chapters in Adventures into Mexico map out the emergence of Mexico as a destination for tourists and travelers from the United States. The chapters will serve anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, historians, and practitioners of literary and cultural studies interested in United States tourism from the 1940s to the present and especially the role that tourism has played in shaping modern Mexico. — Danny J. Anderson, University of Kansas

North Americans first came to Mexico in force in 1846 as military invaders. Today, millions flood in each year as tourists, while thousands more live in Mexico as permanent or semi-permanent expatriates. Surprisingly, this vast human tide, bringing citizens of the world”s wealthiest, most powerful nation into at least fleeting contact with a very different, highly complex, and far poorer society, has received scant scholarly attention. This fine collection of subtle and sophisticated essays goes a long way toward remedying that neglect. Highly recommended. — Paul S. Boyer, University of Wisconsin