This
website was created by Theresa Smalec. The Hemispheric Institute has Smalec's
premission to use this resource for non-commercial, educational purposes.
The Evolving Functions of Nahua
Ceremonialismin Religious and Military Dramas of Early Colonial Mexico.
The last thirty years have generated a proliferation ofscholarship pertaining to Nahuatl theatre. More precisley, scholars workingin the disparate fields of Anthropology, Latin American Studies, Post-ColonialStudies, and Performance Studies have turned to focus on the religiousand military plays and performances that emerged in colonial Mexico duringthe first few decades of the Spanish conquest. Before proceeding,however, to outline some reasons for the rapid growth of interest in Nahuatldrama, I first want to state the intended functions of the following website.This website is intended as a resource for students interested in exploringnot only Nahuatl drama, but also thecultural, political, and socio-economicenvironments in which that drama emerged.For those who would simply likea detailed bibliography of publications regarding these topics, pleaseclick now on "Bibliography ."For those who would like more specific information aboutthe types of inquiries that recent scholars have made with respect to Nahuatldrama, please continue reading. The first page of my website provides asummary of the basic questions that have been asked about the the playscripts and recorded performancesof sixteenth-century colonial Mexico?
One reason for this growth of critical interest is anexpanded number of textual resources. Several rare, sixteenth-century manusciptswere recovered and translated during the first half of the twentieth century.The five known scripts that may be copies or versions of sixteenth-century compositions are "El Juicio Final," "La Adoration de los Reyes," El Sacrificiode Issac," and two didactic plays that John H. Cornyn dubbed
"Tlacahuapahualiztli (Bringing Up the Children)", and
"Souls and Testamentary Executors." Scholars assume that the documents
cited above were most likely authored by Spanish friars. There is, however,
one sixteenth-century manuscript that today'sleading researchers acknowledge
as the work of a native scholar. This manuscript is titled miercoles santo,
or "Holy Wednesday." While "Holy Wednesday" is based on a Spanish religious
drama called Lucero de NuestraSalvacion, or "Beacon ofOur Salvation," scholars
argue that the Nahuatltranslation of this source is significantly, even
radically, different from the original. As I will elaborate later in this
website, Louise M.Burkhart argues that the indigenous versionof "Holy Wednesday"
is "botha translation of its source and a commentaryon it, a rendering
of Christianteachings into Nahuatl and an adjustment ofthose teachings
to the localsituation" (1996, 4-5). Fortunately, this last document came
into the hands of David Szewczyk, a dealer with expertise in Nahuatl. The
manuscript titled miercoles santo,or "Holy Wednesday," was recognized
as an extremely significant source of information, and placed into librariesor
other specialcollectionsfor public use. Aside from increased access tohistorical
documents,however,there isanother reason for the rapid growthof interest
in post-conquestdrama.In short,scholars have slowly realizedthe fundamental
roles of theatre andceremonialbehavior in helping us to better understand
thechanging cultures of early colonial Mexico.
Scholars have started looking closely at the complex relationshipsthat
evolved between traditional Nahua ceremonialism, and the neo-medievalforms
of religious and military drama that the Spaniards exported to theNew World.
Among the foremost questions asked by those who study theserelations concerns
the essential components of the Nahuas' pre-conquestceremonies, as well
as the pervasive features of pre-conquest Nahua culture.Related to this
question, a second inquiry takes up the defining characteristicsof the
Spanish performance traditions that friars and conquistadores imposedon
the indigenous peoples. Thirdly, how did traditional Nahua ceremonialismmanage
to survive, although transformed, within and alongside the Spaniards'religious
and military forms of drama? A fourth approach to this topicis examining
how indigenous practices have profoundly influenced Spanishtraditions such
as the Corpus Christi plays and the Fiestas de Moros yCristianos,both in
the Americas, and in Spain.Finally, many recent publicationshave explored
the possibility that the Nahuasused traditional modes ofceremonialism in
order to resist or even subvertthe sanctioned messageof Christian triumph
that underpinned the Spaniards'religious andmilitaryforms of drama.
Annotated Bibliography of Four Sources:
2) Burkhart, LouiseM. 1996._Holy Wednesday:ANahuaDrama from Early Colonial Mexico_. Philadelphia:Universityof PennsylvaniaPress.