After the broken spears : the Aztecs in the wake of conquest / edited by Camilla Townsend and Josh Anthony.
| Other author | Townsend, Camilla, 1965- editor. |
| Other author | Anthony, Josh, editor. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York : Oxford University Press, [2025] |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xv, 269 pages : illustrations (black and white), map ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| 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. |
| Abstract | "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. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Language | Text in English; some commentary in Nahuatl with English translation. |
| ISBN | 0197776183 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780197776186 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 0197776175 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9780197776179 (hardcover) |