Diccionario Biográfico Americano

Discussion questions for Diccionario Biográfico Americano

Bring these to your book club — or discuss them with readers on Readfeed.

1. 1

   How does Cortés’s selection of biographical subjects reflect the political and cultural values of 19th-century Latin America, and whose voices or perspectives are noticeably missing from this historical portrait?

2. 2

   In an era before instant global communication, what role did biographical dictionaries published in cultural capitals like Paris play in shaping a unified "American" identity for readers back in South and Central America?

3. 3

   If you were tasked with writing a modern biographical dictionary of your own community or nation today, what primary criteria would you use to decide who deserves to be remembered by history?