Nahuatl scholarship

[Michael Swanton]

Lockhart’s "New Philology" clearly represents an
enduring contribution to understanding indigenous
culture during Spanish colonial rule. It has
contributed significantly to the view that cultural
change during that time was not the simple
displacement of indigenous culture, but rather
functioned through already existing indigenous
mechanisms and ways of understanding. It is a
extremely important historical school. There are many
consequences to their work, which provides an
important base for all future investigation. I’m a big
fan of New Philology.

I believe however that it can, and should, be
expanded. The following suggestions come to mind:
1. The selection of sources. Most of the major sources
used by the new philologists are located in national
or foreign archives and libraries. Very little work
has been carried out in more local archives, I suspect
because of their poor organization and difficult
access. The mayordomía archives are practically
untouched. A worthwhile project you might consider is
the organization of a local archive. Not only might
that provide a solid case study, the basis for which
major synthetic studies are built, but it will
contribute to the preservation of the Nahuas
historical patrimony.

2. Interdisciplinary study. In their method, the new
philologists’ study ends where the text ends. The
contextualization of the Nahua ancestral documents
reaches little beyond the texts themselves. It is
uncommon that data from archaeology, cultural
geography, linguistics, contemporary social structure,
historical architecture, etc. are ever brought to bear
on issues raised in the texts under examination. Thus,
in his major synthetic study, Lockhart dedicates a
whole section to the architectural layout of colonial
households, yet never considers the mass of
archaeological data that directly relates to this
issue. Such data can potentially enrich the reading
and interpretation of the texts considerably, but its
use would involve transgressing disciplinary
boundaries and leaving the domain of traditional,
document-based history. Mesoamerica is a rewarding
area for interdisciplinary study. 

3. The study of post-Independent Mexico Nahuas. New
Philology invariably studies texts that are temporally
limited to the centuries of Spanish colonial rule.
Writing in indigenous languages continued after the
colony, and, though considerably different in its
content and audience, this too reflects social
realities of Indigenous Mexico. Moreover, in Mexico
and Guatemala today, many Native Americans continue to
produce texts, both written and oral, in their
languages. While recognizing continuity in indigenous
ways of understanding during the dramatic changes from
the precolonial to colonial periods, New Philology has
not incorporated indigenous cultural continuity after
1821 into their investigations. The great Hellenist
Milman Parry, significantly changed how we understand
the classical Greek texts by studying early 20th
century oral literature in Yugoslavia. I am convinced
the study of modern oral literature, speech genres and
rhetorical devises would shed much light on the older
texts. In general, it has been my experience that
trying to understand the present day realities of
indigenous life will help inspire and ground your work
in new and unexpected ways.

Saludos,
Michael Swanton


--- b.leeming at rivers.org wrote:

> 
> Listeros,
> 
> I posted an inquiry to the list back in July asking
> for information on who
> is currently doing scholarship on the corpus of
> 16th-18th century
> Nahuatl-language documents that is the focus of much
> of Lockhart’s work.
> While I received a few responses (Schwaller, Wood,
> Gilchrist – thank you!),
> my hunch is that there may be more of you actively
> reading posts now that
> the academic year is in full swing and so I would
> like to pose part of my
> original query again.
> 
> In particular, it is the second part of my question
> (which was not
> responded to) that I would like to resubmit.  I
> wrote:
> 
> “As a soon-to-be doctoral student who is hoping to
> focus his research on
> Nahuatl documents such as these, I am interested in
> determining what are
> the persistent problems, questions and unexplored
> avenues that remain.  Or,
> put another way, where would you advise a would-be
> scholar who wants to
> work with Nahuatl source material turn his
> attention?”
> 
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Ben Leeming
> The Rivers School
> Weston, MA
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Nahuatl mailing list
> Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl
> 


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