Introduction: The Mexican Literary Archive

The notion of the archive has been taken to signify many things, from the place of creation and recreation of the social order and authority to a metaphor for the construction and accumulation of knowledge. There is no political power without control of the archive. Whatever perspective one chooses, the close relationship between the development of literary archives and the State's political agenda is a subject that cannot be overlooked. Presented as collaborative and unfinished projects, the making of both bibliotecas was possible thanks to an extensive cultural network of communicating with each other through letters and in academies. Both are textbook examples of Walter Benjamin's idea that there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.