After the broken spears : the Aztecs in the wake of conquest / edited by Camilla Townsend and Josh Anthony.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Townsend, Camilla, 1965- editor.

Anthony, Josh, editor.

Language:

English

Nahuatl

Subjects (All):

Aztecs--History--16th century.

Aztecs.

Indians of Mexico--History--16th century.

Indians of Mexico.

Indians of Mexico--History--16th century--Sources.

Indians of Mexico--History.

Indians of Mexico--History--Sources.

Mexico--History--Conquest, 1519-1540.

Mexico.

Mexico--History--Conquest, 1519-1540--Sources.

Physical Description:

xv, 269 pages : illustrations (black and white), map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Language Note:

Text in English; some commentary in Nahuatl with English translation.

Summary:

"Following Hernando Cortés's conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Aztec Empire became the center of the largest European colony in the Americas. It has long been assumed that Indigenous people's personal experiences of this cataclysmic era are inaccessible. Spanish records do not reflect how Nahuas and other Indigenous peoples spoke privately about the great changes, and accounts written in Indigenous languages mostly date from the latter half of the sixteenth century. Through close readings of Nahuatl sources, the contributors to After the Broken Spears illustrate that records of Indigenous experiences of the early colonial period are both more abundant than they first appear and more richly detailed than ever imagined. Nahuatl songs, annals, tall tales, and legal documents offer a comprehensive vision of how Mexico's Indigenous people lived through the years after the conquest and negotiated the creation of their new world. Often originally circulated as oral accounts, these stories were later copied into Nahuatl script by those determined to preserve their people's history. Interspersed between the main chapters are commentaries written by contemporary Indigenous Mexican scholars, highlighting how historical themes relate to the present day. Just as their ancestors did five hundred years ago, these writers negotiate the ramifications of the Spanish conquest for their communities. After the Broken Spears offers fresh perspectives on a critical transition period in Mesoamerican, Mexican, and colonial history."--Page 4 of cover.

Contents:

Note on terminology, orthography, and translation practices

Introduction: New approaches to the study of the early post-conquest Nahuas / Camilla Townsend

Inic ce : Zan tlahtolli/Only workds / Eduardo de la Cruz

1. A funeral for Moctezuma, 1520 / Tara Malanga

2. A fish song, 1521 / Peter Bjorndahl Sorensen

Inic ome : In quenih Cuitlahuac ohualmocuep Xan Petolohtzi Cuitlahuac/How Cuitlahuac became San Pedro Tláhuac / Bruce Martínez Díaz

3. A pair of memoiries, 1520s / Sandr Acocal

4. A girl walking forward, 1531 / Barbara E. Mundy

Inic eye. Gu Yooxi', Gu Juk, gio gu Gu Jun: Gran Nayar, 1522-1822-2022 / Selene Galindo Cumplido

5. A quarrel between brothers / Josh Anthony

6. A pair of orders, 1543 and 1565 / Justyna Olko

Inic nahui: Nëwemp, Ja Nëëj Jëts Ja Ää Ayuujk/Mexico: Water and words / Yásmaya Elena Aguilar Gil

7. An Aztec priest's sermon, 1558 / Celso Mendoza

8. A farewell, 1591 / Travis Jeffres

Inic macuilli: Titlahmatih: We Nahua scholars and artists / Abelardo de la Cruz

9. A story of a marriage / Clio Isaacson

10. A tall tale / Camilla Townsend

Conclusion: Living in the wake of conquest / Josh Anthony.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0197776183

9780197776186

0197776175

9780197776179

OCLC:

1530148332

Publisher Number:

90103395716