Schroeder, S. (Ed): The Conquest All Over Again. Nahuas and Zapotecs Thinking, Writing, and Painting Spanish Colonialism
This compilation of essays seek to contribute to the New Conquest History (NCH) by continuing the effort of shifting the narrative of the conquest from the Spanish-centered versions to those of native peoples who recorded their experiences and views on the conquest. The authors approach the subject of the conquest through their analysis of a diverse archival corpus that includes annals, pictorials, historical drama pieces, chronicles, confessional and calendrical documents. All documents, written by indigenous peoples including Nahua and Zapotec authors, reveal a deep engagement in making sense and navigating the colonial system in New Spain through written and painted means. Most of the essays, however, address Nahua documentary production, and only one analyzes Zapotec texts, which calls for more efforts to unearth sources from other indigenous groups (if such writings exist and are found). Notwithstanding, the ample picture that these essays provide is very diverse itself in terms of the genres presented and the regions in which these were produced. Overall, the main contribution of these authors resides in their collective approach to a wide array of sources, as well as in revisiting well-known works such as those of Nahua historians Chimalpahin and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl through new perspectives. These pieces reveal, most importantly, the ability of native peoples to navigate a new system that albeit the violent means by which it was first implemented, opened the path to the creation of a rich archival corpus through which one can attempt to understand their ways of thinking and writing about the conquest.
“… the conquest, of Mexico Tenochtitlan, for all its horror and loss, challenged the Nahuas and the Spaniards to capitalize on their respective circumstances, and both groups optimized what was familiar and useful and served them best. The Spaniards learned to live in a foreign place among foreign peoples; the natives had the great advantage of living where they always had, but still they had to deal with the exigencies of Spanish rule. Yet indigenous pre-contact intellectual and social protocols were tenacious, resilient, and the basis for the transition to Spanish colonialism” (7)