Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire : Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition / Davíd Carrasco ; with a New Preface.—Rev

Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition Revised Edition David Carrasco ~University Press of Colorado Copyright © 2000 by the University Press of Colorado International Standard Book Number 0-87081-558-X Published by the University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 Previously published by the University of Chicago Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, and Western State College of Colorado. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1992 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carrasco, Davíd. Quetzalcoatl and the irony of empire : myths and prophecies in the Aztec tradition / Davíd Carrasco ; with a new preface.—Rev. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87081-558-X (alk. paper) 1. Aztec mythology. 2. Aztecs—Urban residence. 3. Quetzalcoatl (Aztec deity) 4. Sacred space—Mexico. I. Title. F1219.76.R45.C37 2000 299'.78452—dc21 00-048008 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my mythic figures Ira G. Zepp, who first taught me about shadows and symbols, and Milena Soforo, my aunt, who first took me to the castle and the museum Contents List of Illustrations Vlll Preface to the Revised Edition ix Preface to the First Edition xiii Acknowledgments xvii Introduction: Mosaics and Centers 1 1 The Sources: From Storybook to Encylopedia 11 2 Quetzalcoatl and the Foundation of Tollan 63 3 Other Tollans 104 4 The Return of Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire 148 5 When Strangers Come to Town: The Return of 205 Queztalcoatl and Millennia! Discourse Notes 241 Selected Bibliography 265 Index 275 vii Illustrations Map of Selected Mesoamerican Ceremonial Centers 10 1 Mesoamerican view of the cosmos, from the Codex Fejervary-Mayer 21 2 The Aztec Piedra del Sol 26 3 Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza 33 4 Tenochtitlan's Foundation in Duran's His Ioria 46 5 Pyramid dedicated to the morning star at Tula 75 6 Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan 111 7 Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan 115 8 The Feathered Serpent on the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Tectihuacan 123 9 Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl at Xochicalco 130 10 Quetzalcoatl at Xochicalco 132 11 The great pyramid at Cholollan 139 12 The Pyramid of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza 143 13 Model of the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan 165 14 Quetzalcoatl as the wind god, from the Codex Magliabecchiano 171 15 Quetzalcoa tl as depicted in the Florentine Codex 188 16 Meeting of Cortes with Moctezuma in Tenochtitlan 195 viii Preface to the Revised Edition The return of Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition follows the pattern of the Plumed Serpent in Mesoamerican history, who re turned time and again to renew the cosmos and the imaginations of various peoples. Since this book was first published in 1982 and again in 1992, the religious and political significance of the Quetzalcoatl myths-particu larly the myth of his return and its disputed role in the conquest of Tenochtitlan-have received increased atten tion, interpretation, and controversy. A series of impor tant publications and widely seen educational television programs have addressed, in part, the controversy sur rounding the "return" of Quetzalcoatl and explored the question of whether Quetzalcoatl' s flight from Tollan and prophesied return played an influential role in the conquest of Tenochtitlan. Once again this question has become an intriguing problem in Mesoamerican studies. There are a number of reasons for this latest return of Quetzalcoatl. On the one hand, impressive archaeological discov eries at the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan stimulated new interpretations of Quetzalcoatl' s signifi cance and place in the orientation and power of Mesoamerican cities long before the invasion of Europe ans. This appreciation of indigenous views ofTopiltzin Quetzalcoatl is enhanced by the imminent publication of H. B. Nicholson's monumental Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future Lord of the Toltecs, the most thorough analysis of surviving pre- and post-conquest documents about the Quetzalcoatl tradition. On the other hand, post colonial studies have insisted that scholars and the gen eral public pay more attention to the complex political and hermeneutical exchanges that took place between natives, Europeans, and Africans in the contact zones ix X Preface to the RevisedEdition and conflict zones where European colonialism spread its powers, bi ases, and institutions. One place where these colonial exchanges have been re-examined is Mesoamerica, where both Quetzalcoatl and Cortes remain powerful and complex symbols of cultural identity and political legitimacy. Four scholars in particular have revived the Quetzalcoatl controversy in persuasively written works. Miguel Le6n-Portilla' s bestsell ing classic Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico was republished in 1992, bringing Quetzalcoatl' s confusion with Cortes back to life. Tzvetan Todorov's celebration of Cortes's superior semiotics in The Conquest ofAmerica was republished, unfortunately without revision, in 1999. Inga Clendinnen' s perceptive Fierce and Unnatural Cruelty: Cortes and the Conquest ofMexico, published in 1991, continues to influence the idea of European control over the Quetzalcoatl and Cortes controversy. The most helpful recent work, in terms of source presentation and analy sis, has been James Lockhart's We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico, which presents, in part, a new translation of the Nahuatl version of Sahagtin' s Book 12 of the Florentine Codex. In my view, all our sources and studies participate in a" dynamics of concealment." Working as a historian of religions, I see this dynamics of concealment present and undermining our abilities to understand on two levels. First, some of these works give too much prestige to the inter pretive strategies of Europeans, without acknowledging how much they attempted to conceal and erase the indigenous views of the" conquest." Secondly, even when we turn our attention and regard to indigenous religions, we are limited in gaining access to indigenous understand ings of myths, rituals, and cosmologies that provided the framework and lens through which native peoples read, interpreted, and remem bered the encounters in Tenochtitlan. As the new chapter in this book shows, much more attention and regard needs to be given to the pre- and post-conquest cosmologies and interpretations of cosmic and social changes (which I call the "strangers coming to town" theme) made by indigenous voices, stories, and symbols. These voices, stories, and sym bols are part of a Mesoamerican religious tradition that combines meanings and practices of both pre-Hispanic peoples and the religions developed after the conquest through the transculturation of native and Christian beliefs. While it may be true that the Spanish conquered the apex of the social hierarchies of Mesoamerica, they did not conquer the minds and memories of many indigenous peoples who continued to remember and imagine their historical and mythic pasts and apply those memories and imaginations of Tollan, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (and his powers of cri tique and renewal) to their exchanges with each other and the Europeans and their stories, saints, and symbols. My revision of Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire is, in part, an interpretation of the applications of those memories by various natives, mestizos, and Europeans who found them- Preface to the RevisedEdition xi selves immersed in and contributing to the evolving Mesoamerican reli gious tradition. I am reminded of that wonderful claim of Elizabeth Wilder Wisemann that in Mexico," two different kinds of life absorbed each other and pro duced things new and different from anything else in the world." Yes, there was a refigured Quetzalcoatl developed in the military and inter pretive battles of the conquest and colonial period, but this Quetzalcoatl was also ancestral and even primordial. This ancestral and refigured Quetzalcoatl continues to play a creative role in understandings of Tenochtitlan' s final years as well as political understandings of legitimacy and renewal in Mesoamerica today. Preface to the First Edition The return of Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition to print in 1992 is a timely event for at least two reasons. First, in the last decade many of the discoveries of the exca vation of the Great Aztec Temple have been published and scholars and journalists are re-imagining the ceremonial worlds of Moctezuma, Quetzalcoatl, Tol lan, Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Chichen Itza, and Ten ochtitlan. An impressive number of studies, including some by archaeoastronomers- and historians of reli gions, are revitalizing Mesoamerican studies with new and challenging interpretations. Quetzalcoatl reenters the discourse with new conversation partners for interaction. When it first appeared in 1982, it was one of the first studies of Mesoamerican religions written by a historian of religions. Fortunately, it raised consider able critical interest among archaeologists, historians, art historians, and journalists in Europe, Mexico, and the United States, where reviewers both applauded and challenged its ideas. The book attempted a new understanding of Mesoamerican religions by viewing a series of Mesoamerican cities as cosmo-magical sym bols. The central thesis was that the symbol of Quetz alcoatl and the symbol of his majestic ceremonial city of Tollan were models for two types of orientation in Mesoamerican culture, the orientation of sacred authority and the orientation of ceremonial space.

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