Prizefighting and Civilization
Prizefighting and Civilization
A Cultural History of Boxing, Race, and Masculinity in Mexico and Cuba, 1840-1940
In Prizefighting and Civilization: A Cultural History of Boxing, Race, and Masculinity in Mexico and Cuba, 1840-1940, historian David C. LaFevor traces the history of pugilism in Mexico and Cuba from its controversial beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century through its exponential rise in popularity during the early twentieth century. A divisive subculture that was both a profitable blood sport and a contentious public spectacle, boxing provides a unique vantage point from which LaFevor examines the deeper historical evolution of national identity, everyday normative concepts of masculinity and race, and an expanding and democratizing public sphere in both Mexico and Cuba, the United States’ closest Latin American neighbors. Prizefighting and Civilization explores the processes by which boxing—once considered an outlandish purveyor of low culture—evolved into a nationalized pillar of popular culture, a point of pride that transcends gender, race, and class.
This book presents rich histories of a broad number of actors and institutions of importance to the history of prizefighting in Mexico and Cuba between 1840 and 1940 and sophisticatedly embeds them in the broader sociocultural transformations of their times.…Its immense empirical richness opens up many routs for further research.
LaFevor argues persuasively that understanding cultural histories of Latin America requires the kind of appreciation of sport he gives boxing in this carefully detailed, often colorful, and always intriguing account.
LaFevor analyzes the history of prizefighting in Cuba and Mexico from 1840 to 1940 in this well-researched study.…Recommended.
David C. LaFevor is an associate professor of Latin American history and digital humanities at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is the coauthor of The Third Century: U.S.-Latin American Relations since 1889.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter One. Introduction: The Problem of Prizefighting in Cuba and Mexico
Chapter Two. Prizefighting and Civilization in the Mexican Public Sphere in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter Three. "Who Will Say We Are Not Progressing?": Cuba, Race, and Boxing in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
Chapter Four. "Nigger Prizefighters" in Havana: The Transnational Spectacle of Race and Boxing
Chapter Five. "The Revolution Came and Passed Out Gloves to Everyone"
Chapter Six. Marching at the Head of Civilization
Conclusion. Legacies of Domesticating the Exotic in Cuba and Mexico
Notes
Bibliography
Index
