Not really about Spanish "Gods"

Heather Hess heatherhess at hotmail.com
Sat Apr 15 02:35:29 UTC 2000


hola!  donde vive!  yo vive en canada ahora - regressa mexico en julio!!!!

Yolohtzin

>From: carlos.robles at valeo.com
>Reply-To: nahuat-l at server.umt.edu
>To: Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
>Subject: Re: Not really about Spanish "Gods"
>Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 14:42:38 -0700
>
>Your comment is accurate, not exactly about the original mentioned subj=
>ect but
>very good.
>I am Mexican and I feel more proud of my Mexican part rather than my Sp=
>anish
>one, as you know we are the result of a mix of local inhabitants depend=
>ing on
>the region, Spaniards and Arabs who conquested Spain for 7 centuries. I=
>  have
>been in Spain and the people is not very nice neither with foreign peop=
>le nor
>with people from different Spanish regions.
>But my real interest is to emphasize that the language?s morphology ref=
>lect
>their speaking people habits, morals and behaviors.
>The Nahuatl has three different speaking formats:  plain, formal and ve=
>ry
>formal; the way the pure Aztecs were ennobling the human being.
>And the words themselves reflect the regard people has to others, for i=
>nstance
>"Tlasohkamahtli", Thanks means literately ?love to you through my mouth=
>?.
>I hope this message do not offend Spaniards but It is true.
>Best regards
>And thanks for your comment.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"Heather Hess" <heatherhess at hotmail.com> on 26/01/2000 02:25:20 PM
>
>Please respond to nahuat-l at server.umt.edu
>
>To:   Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
>cc:    (bcc: Carlos ROBLES/Sanluis/VWS/VALEO)
>Subject:  Re: Spanish "Gods"
>
>
>=
>
>I want to reply to this subject on a very personal note.  I am Canadian=
>  and
>have spent much of my last few years in Mexico.  I have had varied
>experiences learning Nahautl and am associated with Aztec Dancers so ha=
>ve
>first hand information.  These people that are my friends are hospitabl=
>e
>before anything ' they open up their doors ' give you food ' hospitalit=
>y '
>anything I ever need is just there.  The Spaniards when they came also
>received a warm welcome but abused and took advantage of the Aztecas!  =
>I can
>only say that if only the rest of the world could learn to open up thei=
>r
>doors to people the way Mexicans do we wouldn=B4t have so much trouble =
>in the
>world right now!  We must quit worrying about trivialities and get down=
>  to
>the basics!  We as a tiny particle of this world must learn to once aga=
>in
>respect and be open to people more than we are to material goods ' movi=
>es
>fit into that category ' movies are for entertainment ' they are not to=
>  be
>taken seriously ' people that see movies come to their own conclusions =
>'
>people that are aware will realize the misgivings of what is popular in=
>  the
>eyes of the public ' those that are not aware ' well ' for them there i=
>s no
>hope!  Forgive the format of this message ' I have to pay for computer =
>time
>so didn=B4t stop to format this opinion!
>
>Itzpapalotzin
>
>
> >From: Richard Haly <Richard.Haly at colorado.edu>
> >Reply-To: nahuat-l at server.umt.edu
> >To: Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
> >Subject: Spanish "Gods"
> >Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 23:41:01 -0700
> >
> > > The entire
> > > "Cortes-Quetzalcoatl" scenario appears only in the later accounts. =
>While
> > > it is fairly clear that Nahuas applied the term "teotl" to the Span=
>ish
> > > early on, it is also clear that the Spanish thought they were being=
>
> >called
> > > "gods" and that they relished the idea, despite the fact that the N=
>ahuas
> > > never revered them as gods. To pretend that identifying "whites" as=
>  gods
> > > is a generic "native" reaction to "superior strangers" is arguably
> >racist.>>
> >
> >The problem with thinking that Nahuas considered Spaniards to be gods
> >resides not in Nahua "naivete" nor in Spanish presumption but in our o=
>wn
> >unexamined assumptions of what gods are. If we go back to what Nahuas
> >called
> >Spaniards we find teotl and we also find that they spoke of their own
> >rulers
> >using the same term. The issue is  not one of deifying Spaniards but o=
>f
> >humanizing "gods." What is teotl? Recall that commoners could not look=
>
> >directly at Moteuczomah just as they could not look directly at the su=
>n.
> >Too
> >much tonalli (radiance). They would be blinded. It is lots more produc=
>tive
> >to think of both Nahua rulers and Spaniards as these sort of man-gods.=
>
> >
> >What I don't understand are all these stereotypical interpretations on=
>
> >either side. Perhaps it's time to again trot out a quote that appears =
>every
> >so often here: Walt Kelley (creator of Pogo): "We have met the enemy a=
>nd he
> >is us."
> >
> >Richard Haly
> >
>
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