Technologies of Communication in Transition: Indigenous Orality and Writing in Colonial Mexico

doi:10.1017/9781108976893.019

Chapter 18 - Technologies of Communication in Transition: Indigenous Orality and Writing in Colonial Mexico

from Part V - Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2022

Kelly S. McDonough

Edited by

Rocío Quispe-Agnoli and

Amber Brian

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Rocío Quispe-Agnoli: Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Amber Brian: Affiliation:
University of Iowa

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Summary

This essay centers on the dynamic and inherently complex interplay among pre-Hispanic and European languages and writing (in the broadest sense) in New Spain. It addresses the populations, spaces (geographic and institutional), and formats in which theories, policies, and practices of language use and inscription shifted through three centuries of colonial rule. Emphasis is placed on the strategic choices of indigenous subjects, primarily Nahuas, in their sonic and visual communication practices. It pays attention to the violent processes that went hand in hand with the imposition and acquisition of European communicative practices and tools. Through the analysis of a wide variety of textual genres produced by indigenous peoples and Spaniards, some of the questions treated in this essay are: how did the use of Nahuatl, Spanish, or Latin convey prestige, authenticity, and legitimacy in some circumstances, and in others not? In what ways did the Roman alphabet become a powerful tool wielded by native peoples? Why were indigenous painted amoxtli recreated by memory, then glossed with Spanish text, decades and even one hundred years after the zealous priests burned the originals?

Keywords

technology of communications pictographic writing alphabetic writing Roman alphabet primordial titles communicative technology indigenous people Nahua noble Nahuatl sixteenth century

Type: Chapter
Information: Latin American Literature in Transition Pre-1492–1800 , pp. 275 - 287

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108976893.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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