IMS Studies on Culture and Society
“A sophisticated, multidisciplinary contribution to a vibrant and ongoing discourse on Nahuatl studies.”
—Peter B. Villella, United States Air Force Academy
“Reflects the process of working within the broader community of Nahuatl scholars—an academic space that blurs the lines between the traditional disciplines to further develop arguments that would not be achieved were they approached from a single field of study.”
—Jonathan Truitt, Central Michigan University
Revealing the resiliency of Nahua culture and language while highlighting the adaptations and changes they have undergone over the centuries, The Nahua demonstrates that Nahuatl remained a vibrant and central language well after European contact and into the twenty-first century, and its characteristic features can provide insight into nuanced aspects of Nahua culture and history.
During the colonial period, Nahuatl became a means of empowerment, oppression, and indoctrination. In modern times, Nahuatl continues to serve as an ideological lightning rod for both the Mexican government and Indigenous communities. Contributors to this volume focus on Nahua intellectual production from the sixteenth century to the present; contact and the negotiation of meaning; adaptations of Christian lore that show how representations of creation, hell, and the Passion of Christ reflected Nahua perceptions and understandings; Nahua cultural expressions, including poetry, healing rituals, and even running; language and geography; Nahuatl place-names; and the transformation of Nahuatl speakers from antiquity to the present.
Showcasing how Nahuatl’s cultural resilience permanently shaped the region’s social geography, The Nahua engages the field’s interest in the nonhomogenous character of the language, with regional and subregional dialects and pronunciations that reflect the history of pre-Columbian migrations and modern-era influences. Bridging the study of Nahuatl as a “historical” Indigenous language tradition with the study of modern-day speakers and their experiences, this work is of significance to students, scholars, and speakers of the languages as well as those studying colonial New Spain, Indigenous resilience, or Indigenous linguistics.
Contributors: Louise M. Burkhart, Mary Clayton, Karen Dakin, Ben Leeming, Kelly S. McDonough, Mercedes Montes de Oca Vega, Magnus Pharao Hansen, Alan Sandstrom, Pamela Effrein Sandstrom, John F. Schwaller, Rosa H. Yáñez Rosales
The ebook edition will be made open access within three years of publication thanks to Path to Open, a program developed to bring about equitable access and impact for the entire scholarly community, including authors, researchers, libraries, and university presses around the world. Learn more
