Mexican Debates Around Digital Literature. Evolving Perspectives: Mónica Nepote, Juan Villoro, and Eugenio Tisselli

Abstract

This contribution examines the evolving landscape of digital literature in Mexico and assesses its impact within the country’s meta-context. The article explores how digital literary practices intersect with cultural policies, editorial strategies, and modes of reading and writing in the digital age. The investigation aligns with the research questions formulated by Mendoza and Sued (2018), with particular emphasis on the new challenges the country faces. The study begins with an overview of significant Mexican initiatives, ranging from the pioneering computational model for narrative improvisation, MEXICA, to the more recent E-Literatura platform. It then focuses on selected contributions from three prominent Mexican figures: Mónica Nepote, Juan Villoro, and Eugenio Tisselli. Over the years, their voices—as writers, editors, and publishers—have shaped public discourse on digital literature, raising concerns about emerging and urgent issues. These authors have often expressed their views with caution and ambivalence, yet have consistently engaged in a polarised dialogue aimed at understanding, representing, and mediating diverse approaches and attitudes toward digital literature. This contribution not only highlights Mexico’s growing engagement with a field at the intersection of tradition and innovation—nurturing “decolonial perspectives, community-building, and recovery” (Ortega 2018)—but also addresses fundamental questions of access, humanity, and the evolving role of literature in the digital age.