Narrative threads : accounting and recounting in Andean Khipu / edited by Jeffrey Quilter and Gary Urton.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Quilter, Jeffrey, 1949-

Urton, Gary, 1946-

Series:

Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture.

Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quipu--History--Sources.

Quipu.

Incas--Mathematics.

Incas.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (392 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin, Tex. : University of Texas Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Inka Empire stretched over much of the length and breadth of the South American Andes, encompassed elaborately planned cities linked by a complex network of roads and messengers, and created astonishing works of architecture and artistry and a compelling mythology—all without the aid of a graphic writing system. Instead, the Inkas' records consisted of devices made of knotted and dyed strings—called khipu—on which they recorded information pertaining to the organization and history of their empire. Despite more than a century of research on these remarkable devices, the khipu remain largely undeciphered. In this benchmark book, twelve international scholars tackle the most vexed question in khipu studies: how did the Inkas record and transmit narrative records by means of knotted strings? The authors approach the problem from a variety of angles. Several essays mine Spanish colonial sources for details about the kinds of narrative encoded in the khipu. Others look at the uses to which khipu were put before and after the Conquest, as well as their current use in some contemporary Andean communities. Still others analyze the formal characteristics of khipu and seek to explain how they encode various kinds of numerical and narrative data.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Preface""; ""PART ONE. Background for the Study of Khipu and Quechua Narratives""; ""Chapter One. An Overview of Spanish Colonial Commentary on Andean Knotted-String Records by Gary Urton""; ""Introduction""; ""Sixteenth-century Accounts""; ""Seventeenth-century Accounts""; ""Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Accounts""; ""Summary and Conclusions""; ""Chapter Two. Spinning a Yarn: Landscape, Memory, and Discourse Structure in Quechua Narratives by Rosaleen Howard""; ""Introduction""; ""Cross-cultural Theories of Memory""

""The Landscape and Narrative Performances in the Andes""""Organizational Principles of Quechua Narrative Performance""; ""Structuring Features of Quechua Narratives""; ""History, Memory, and Data-source Marking""; ""Concluding Remarks""; ""PART TWO. Structure and Information in the Khipu""; ""Chapter Three. A Khipu Information String Theory by William J. Conklin""; ""Introduction""; ""Comparison with Inka Fabric Construction""; ""Analysis of Khipu Construction""; ""Khipu Information Capacity""; ""Conclusions""; ""Chapter Four. Reading Khipu: Labels, Structure, and Format by Marcia Ascher""

""Chapter Five. Inka Writing by Robert Ascher""""Writing Systems""; ""Decipherment""; ""Encipherment: An Example""; ""Narration and the Next First Step""; ""PART THREE. Interpreting Chroniclers' Accounts of Khipu""; ""Chapter Six. String Registries: Native Accounting and Memory According to the Colonial Sources by Carlos Sempat Assadourian""; ""Chapter Seven. Woven Words: The Royal Khipu of Blas Valera by Sabine P. Hyland""; ""Introduction""; ""Blas Valera (1544-1597)""; ""Montesinos, Atahuallpa, and Khipu""; ""The Royal Khipu of Blas Valera""; ""Conclusion""

""Chapter Eight. Recording Signs in Narrative-Accounting Khipu by Gary Urton""""Introduction""; ""Garcilaso de la Vega on Inka ""Writing""""; ""Garcilaso de la Vega on Numbers, Prosody, Iconography, and Writing in the Khipu""; ""Garcilaso de la Vega's Presuppositions About the Nature of Inka Writing""; ""The Nature, Location, and Status of ""Mnemonic Units"" in Narrative Productions""; ""The Relationship Between Reading and Speaking""; ""Do We Have Examples of Narrative Knot-and-string-type Accounting Khipu?""; ""What do the Subunits and Signifying Units Signify?""; ""Conclusions""

""Chapter Nine. Yncap Cimin Quipococ's Knots by Jeffrey Quilter""""Context: Text and Twine Intertwined""; ""Diversity and Standardization of Khipu in the Inka Imperial Bureaucracy""; ""Comparative Study: The Telegraph and Stenography""; ""Reading and Narratives""; ""Comparative Study: Arithmetic and Writing Origins in the Near East""; ""Concluding Remarks""; ""PART FOUR. Colonial Uses and Transformations of the Khipu""; ""Chapter Ten. ""Without Deceit or Lies"": Variable Chinu Readings during a Sixteenth-Century Tribute-Restitution Trial by Tristan Platt""; ""Introduction""

""Private ""Idiosyncrasy"" or Universal ""Writing"": A False Dichotomy?""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-292-78783-9

OCLC:

700457466