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Abstract
The process of formation of the present day Mexican culture can be characterized using Angel Rama's terminology of transculturation: A fusion of Mexico's Pre-columbian indigenous history with that of the conquering Europeans. The history of the narrative of Quetzalcoatl is an interesting example of transculturation, permeated with Foucault's concept of power in discourse. The narrative of Quetzalcoatl was well established within Mesoamerica at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. The tale, according to Diaz Infante, contains a basic psychological attraction which immediately gained the attention of the arriving Spaniards. They thought they saw within it an image of themselves and the value of western culture. What followed was a tug-of-war between different groups of Europeans as well as Indians and Mestizos who attempted to possess, or repossess, this narration, while they reinterpreted it for their own purposes.
