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This study examines Carlos Fuentes' reflection on the interpretation of the past as well as on its fictional representation. For this purpose we study Terra nostra (1975), the Mexican writer's most ambitious novel, because it breaks with the main concepts of historiography and the historical novel. With a circular gallery of text-mirrors structure, the novel is meant to represent the simultaneous aspects of reality, and to present to the reader different interpretations of the past. Fashioned from the concept of intertextuality, the terms "intertemporality" and "interdiscursivity" are used to define the notions of time and the discursive composition of history, integrated in the novel. With the term intertemporality, we examine how Fuentes deconstructs the chronological notion of time, creating instead a simultaneous and dialectical relation between past, present, and future. With the term of interdiscursivity, we see how Fuentes, in his quest to examine Spain's history, integrates in Terra nostra the thought from Giambattista Vico, Erasmus, Americo Castro, and Michel Foucault, as well as important literary figures (James Joyce, Julio Cortazar, Miguel de Cervantes, and Jorge L. Borges). The integration of these thinkers and writers ables the reader to create an interdiscursive notion of history that establishes a dynamic relation between the different discourses on history. From an image used by Borges in "Las ruinas Circulates", an epistemological structure quite different from the one suggested by the three parts of the novel emerges, allowing the reader to read a more open work. Aura (1962) is also studied, because in many ways, it is a prelude to Terra nostra, and because it is an early reflection on the relation between history and fiction. Finally, using the concepts of the double and the other, we also study Una familia lejana, which examines the relation between France and Mexico. We conclude on some paradoxes brought up by those novels, especially Terra

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This thesis sets out to investigate the development of the recent historical novel in Mexico by examining a corpus of five novels. Elena Garro’s 'Los recuerdos del porvenir' (1963) represents the final point of the novel of the Revolution and it is the link with the recent historical novel. Carlos Fuentes’ 'Terra Nostra' (1975) and Fernando del Paso’s 'Noticias del Imperio' (1978) belong to the group containing the postmodern historical novel. 'Terra Nostra' summarizes all the concerns of postmodernism and can be considered as a paradigm of this current of thought. 'Noticias del Imperio' seeks a reconciliation between history and literature in an attempt to get closer to the historical truth. Paco Ignacio Taibo II’s 'La lejanía del Tesoro' (1992) is a representative novel in the way it melds history with the mystery novel, developing the genre of the historical thriller. Lastly, Rosa Beltrán’s 'La corte de los ilusos' (1995), and in particular its treatment of history is pertinent to this thesis due to the fact that women have been traditionally silenced by official history. This novel gives them a voice. From its beginnings, the historical novel confronted the problem of being questioned for its lack of accuracy when dealing with the past. This skepticism sparked a long lasting debate that initially degraded the historical novel as secondary genre that could never contribute to historical knowledge. However, as a result of recent theories that seek to defend the poetic nature of history, a theory developed initially by Hayden White, the recent historical novel has sought to debunk historiography’s claim to be the only possible way to recount the past. This thesis advances the theory that the recent historical novel in Mexico is the result of a search for a genuine identity, as well as a quest to develop an alternative, yet truthful, interpretation of a past whose true nature has been distorted by decades of historical officialdom. This process is seen in a context of increasing democratisation and globalisation.