The presence of history.

Abstract

This article examines the presence of history in contemporary narrative through a comparative analysis of two Mexican historical novels from the first decade of the twenty-first century: Pobre patria mía. La novela de Porfirio Díaz by Pedro Ángel Palou and El testigo by Juan Villoro. The author approaches history as a dialogue between past and present, emphasizing literature’s role in translating historical experience into narrative forms that address contemporary concerns. Drawing on the work of Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer, the study analyzes the shared narrative structure of historiography and fiction—plot or intrigue—and how both express the temporal dimension of human experience. The article shows that Palou’s novel belongs to a tradition that emphasizes the referential function of fiction by placing a historical figure at the center and exploring his motivations from a subjective perspective. In contrast, Villoro’s El testigo foregrounds a critical exploration of the present, in which the past operates as a force that shapes contemporary reality, particularly in relation to neoliberalism, violence, and the instrumentalization of history and culture. The article concludes that both novels offer distinct yet complementary ways of understanding history through literature, either as reflection on the past or as a critique of the present.