Roger Bartra belongs to the so-called Generation of '68. He trained as an anthropologist in Mexico City during the sixties and received his doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1974. Of Catalan origin and the son of parents persecuted by Spanish Fascism who took refuge in Mexico, he has travelled extensively and carried out research in various parts of the world, from Venezuela and the UK, to the United States and France. His multicultural background has provided him with the foundation to write books on European mythologies, such as Las redes imaginarias del poder político (Era, 1981), The Artificial Savage. Modern Myths of the Wild Man (Michigan University Press, 1997) and Cultura y melancolía: las enfermedades del alma en la España del Siglo de Oro (Anagrama, 2001). He has also written about Mexico in works of non-fiction including The Cage of Melancholy (Rutgers University Press, 1992) and Blood, Ink and Culture (Duke University Press, 2002).