Not really about Spanish "Gods"

[carlos.robles at valeo.com]

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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