Nahuatl scholarship

[Amapohuani at aol.com]

(JListeros:(B

(JI feel that Michael's comments are very thoughtful and I am glad that he has (B
(Jshared them with the list. (B

(J I speak only for myself but I especially like what I take to be his (B
(Jwell-expressed suggestions about aggressively reaching out and incorporating into all (B
(Jof our work whatever is useful and illuminating [and I mean that in both the (B
(Jsense of those doing the work and their audiences, the two not always being so (B
(Jdifferent]. I share that sentiment, only pointing out that individuals and (B
(Jeven small groups of collaborating scholars can only do so much. For example, (B
(JLouise Burkhart and I are going to end up spending twelve very arduous years (B
(Jputting out the four-volume NAHUATL THEATER set. And currently I am on a longterm (B
(Jfellowship at the Newberry Library in Chicago working on some remarkable, and (B
(Jbasically unknown, Carochi papers. I am going to work up a critical edition: (B
(Jand I conservatively estimate three more years on this project alone! I can (B
(Jimagine doing more, learning how to do more, and wish I could do more, but (B
(Junfortunately I am only human. So if new folks want to join in the work and bring (B
(Jnew perspectives and skill sets, IMHO, the more the merrier! (B

(JI would only add an observation. I remember when xeroxes of a few chapters of (B
(JJim's THE NAHUAS AFTER THE CONQUEST were sitting in boxes at UCLA circa 1990 (B
(Jto be read by his grad students. One of those students, Kevin Terraciano, has (B
(Jtaken Jim's place at UCLA, and Kevin's own survey of the Mixtecs is now the (B
(Jequivalent for that group of what Jim's is for early Nahuas. That people might (B
(Jnow find that Jim's THE NAHUAS is not the be-all and end-all [I never thought (B
(Jit was or was meant to be but appreciated it for helping speed the rest of us (B
(Jon our way] and that more work in many directions is necessary and feasible, I (B
(Jfind both fascinating and a bit funny. Whatever it is called, Early Latin (B
(JAmerican Studies, the New Philology [as opposed to the old and now-displaced (B
(Jone?], Ethnohistory, mainstream this or cutting-edge that, work on early Nahuatl (B
(Jtexts is very v ery far from being even modestly 'finished.' It is not an (B
(J'accomplished fact' sitting on the 'road of progress' getting in the way but, to my (B
(Jway of thinking, a constantly moving target -- note that Louise and I have (B
(Jeffectively made Jim's discussion of early Nahuatl theater very thin and dated, (B
(Jbut Jim's work is still very valuable in many respects even as people add it (B
(Jto, modify it, and even replace it. In fact, on a personal note I must say that (B
(JI do not think I will get to see much more than modest advances in my lifetime (B
(Jjust on the textual corpus alone, not to mention all the others directions (B
(Jand projects that Michael lists.   (B

(JAgain, I thank Michael for sharing his thoughts with us and wish him well in (B
(Jhis future endeavors. (B

(JYe ixquich.(B
(JBarry D. Sell(B

(JIn a message dated 10/27/06 8:00:26 AM, mwswanton at yahoo.com writes:(B


(J> (B
(J> Lockhart$B!G(Js "New Philology" clearly represents an(B
(J> enduring contribution to understanding indigenous(B
(J> culture during Spanish colonial rule. It has(B
(J> contributed significantly to the view that cultural(B
(J> change during that time was not the simple(B
(J> displacement of indigenous culture, but rather(B
(J> functioned through already existing indigenous(B
(J> mechanisms and ways of understanding. It is a(B
(J> extremely important historical school. There are many(B
(J> consequences to their work, which provides an(B
(J> important base for all future investigation. I$B!G(Jm a big(B
(J> fan of New Philology.(B
(J> (B
(J> I believe however that it can, and should, be(B
(J> expanded. The following suggestions come to mind:(B
(J> 1. The selection of sources. Most of the major sources(B
(J> used by the new philologists are located in national(B
(J> or foreign archives and libraries. Very little work(B
(J> has been carried out in more local archives, I suspect(B
(J> because of their poor organization and difficult(B
(J> access. The mayordom$(D+?(Ja archives are practically(B
(J> untouched. A worthwhile project you might consider is(B
(J> the organization of a local archive. Not only might(B
(J> that provide a solid case study, the basis for which(B
(J> major synthetic studies are built, but it will(B
(J> contribute to the preservation of the Nahuas(B
(J> historical patrimony.(B
(J> (B
(J> 2. Interdisciplinary study. In their method, the new(B
(J> philologists$B!G(J study ends where the text ends. The(B
(J> contextualization of the Nahua ancestral documents(B
(J> reaches little beyond the texts themselves. It is(B
(J> uncommon that data from archaeology, cultural(B
(J> geography, linguistics, contemporary social structure,(B
(J> historical architecture, etc. are ever brought to bear(B
(J> on issues raised in the texts under examination. Thus,(B
(J> in his major synthetic study, Lockhart dedicates a(B
(J> whole section to the architectural layout of colonial(B
(J> households, yet never considers the mass of(B
(J> archaeological data that directly relates to this(B
(J> issue. Such data can potentially enrich the reading(B
(J> and interpretation of the texts considerably, but its(B
(J> use would involve transgressing disciplinary(B
(J> boundaries and leaving the domain of traditional,(B
(J> document-based history. Mesoamerica is a rewarding(B
(J> area for interdisciplinary study.(B
(J> (B
(J> 3. The study of post-Independent Mexico Nahuas. New(B
(J> Philology invariably studies texts that are temporally(B
(J> limited to the centuries of Spanish colonial rule.(B
(J> Writing in indigenous languages continued after the(B
(J> colony, and, though considerably different in its(B
(J> content and audience, this too reflects social(B
(J> realities of Indigenous Mexico. Moreover, in Mexico(B
(J> and Guatemala today, many Native Americans continue to(B
(J> produce texts, both written and oral, in their(B
(J> languages. While recognizing continuity in indigenous(B
(J> ways of understanding during the dramatic changes from(B
(J> the precolonial to colonial periods, New Philology has(B
(J> not incorporated indigenous cultural continuity after(B
(J> 1821 into their investigations. The great Hellenist(B
(J> Milman Parry, significantly changed how we understand(B
(J> the classical Greek texts by studying early 20th(B
(J> century oral literature in Yugoslavia. I am convinced(B
(J> the study of modern oral literature, speech genres and(B
(J> rhetorical devises would shed much light on the older(B
(J> texts. In general, it has been my experience that(B
(J> trying to understand the present day realities of(B
(J> indigenous life will help inspire and ground your work(B
(J> in new and unexpected ways.(B
(J> (B
(J> Saludos,(B
(J> Michael Swanton(B
(J> (B
(J> (B
(J> --- b.leeming at rivers.org wrote:(B
(J> (B
(J> >(B
(J> > Listeros,(B
(J> >(B
(J> > I posted an inquiry to the list back in July asking(B
(J> > for information on who(B
(J> > is currently doing scholarship on the corpus of(B
(J> > 16th-18th century(B
(J> > Nahuatl-language documents that is the focus of much(B
(J> > of Lockhart$(D+$"o(Js work.(B
(J> > While I received a few responses (Schwaller, Wood,(B
(J> > Gilchrist $(D+$$B!H(J thank you!),(B
(J> > my hunch is that there may be more of you actively(B
(J> > reading posts now that(B
(J> > the academic year is in full swing and so I would(B
(J> > like to pose part of my(B
(J> > original query again.(B
(J> >(B
(J> > In particular, it is the second part of my question(B
(J> > (which was not(B
(J> > responded to) that I would like to resubmit. I(B
(J> > wrote:(B
(J> >(B
(J> > $(D+$)M(JAs a soon-to-be doctoral student who is hoping to(B
(J> > focus his research on(B
(J> > Nahuatl documents such as these, I am interested in(B
(J> > determining what are(B
(J> > the persistent problems, questions and unexplored(B
(J> > avenues that remain. Or,(B
(J> > put another way, where would you advise a would-be(B
(J> > scholar who wants to(B
(J> > work with Nahuatl source material turn his(B
(J> > attention?$(D+$$B".(B
(J> >(B
(J> > Any advice would be greatly appreciated!(B
(J> >(B
(J> > Ben Leeming(B
(J> > The Rivers School(B
(J> > Weston, MA(B
(J> >(B
(J> > _______________________________________________(B
(J> > Nahuatl mailing list(B
(J> > Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org(B
(J> > http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl(B
(J> >(B
(J> (B
(J> (B
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(J> _______________________________________________(B
(J> Nahuatl mailing list(B
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(J> (B

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