Don Catrín de la Fachenda: La ironía como expresión de una normativa vacilante

Abstract

This study examines the novel Vida y hechos de Don Catrín de la Fachenda by J.J. Fernandez de Lizardi. I propose that Fernandez de Lizardi’s work is more complex than its previous literary models because it presents a triple marginality: social, national, and literary. The innovative aspect of the author’s literary imitation is based upon the use of the picaresque
models to question –ahead of his time– the national projects of the emerging republics in Latin America.