Colonial Indigenous Literacies
Caroline Egan
Set readings for this seminar study Amerindian languages and literacies in the colonial period from the disciplinary perspectives of anthropology, history, linguistics and literature. For a useful introductory reading, see ‘Cultures in contact’ by Rolena Adorno in The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature. In the seminar meeting, we will collectively examine a few primary works (including selections from Chimalpahin and Guaman Poma, listed below as suggested readings) in relation to the set texts.
For a useful introductory reading, see ‘Cultures in contact’ by Rolena Adorno in The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature. (see Moodle)
Set readings
Please bring copies to the seminar (see Moodle)
- Angel Rama, La ciudad letrada (any edition), chapters 1-3.
- Gabriela Ramos and Yanna Yannakakis, ‘Introduction’ in Indigenous Intellectuals: Knowledge, Power, and Colonial Culture in Mexico and the Andes (Durham/London: Duke UP, 2014), 1-17. (e-book)
- Joanne Rappaport and Tom Cummins, ‘The Indigenous Lettered City’ in Beyond the Lettered City: Indigenous Literacies in the Andes (Durham: Duke UP, 2012), 113-151. (e-book)
- Matthew Restall, Lisa Sousa, and Kevin Terraciano, ‘Mesoamericans and Spaniards in the Sixteenth Century’ and ‘Literacy in Colonial Mesoamerica’ in Mesoamerican Voices: Native-Language Writings from Colonial Mexico, Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Guatemala (Cambridge: CUP, 2005), 3-20. (e-book)
Suggested additional readings
- Rolena Adorno, ‘Cultures in contact: Mesoamerica, the Andes, and the European written tradition’ in The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature, vol. 1, eds. R. González Echevarría and E. Pupo-Walker (Cambridge: CUP, 1996), 33-57 (e-book)
- Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Annals of His Time, eds. and trans. J. Lockhart, S. Schroeder, and D. Namala (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006)
- Suggested passages: death of Felipe the Second (65), creation and history to 1524 (115-135), description of Japanese delegation (171-173), eclipse (177-185), complaint of María López (195-199)
- Suggested secondary reading: Justyna Olko, ‘Alphabetic Writing in the Hands of the Colonial Nahua Nobility,’ Contributions in New World Archaeology 7 (2014), 177-197
- Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, eds. J.V. Murra, R. Adorno, and J.L. Urioste (Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1992)
- Suggested passages (including pages of images): author’s letter (5-7), on the discovery of Peru (34-39), on Cajamarca (356-358), ‘Pregunta su majestad’ (896-912), ‘Mapamundi de indias’ (913-915)
- Suggested secondary reading: Galen Brokaw, ‘Khipu Numeracy and Alphabetic Literacy in the Andes: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala’s Nueva corónica y buen gobierno’ Colonial Latin American Review 11.2 (2002), 275-303