Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Redalyc.The Nahua Annal'. Genre from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth

Redalyc.The Nahua Annal'. Genre from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth

Scripta Ethnologica ISSN: 1669-0990 [email protected] Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Argentina

Webb, David The nahua annal'. Genre from the sixteenth and seventeenth century () Scripta Ethnologica, vol. XXVII, 2005, pp. 9-23 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Buenos Aires, Argentina

Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=14811516001

How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from , the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative SCRIPTA ETHNOLOGICA, Vol. XXVII, Bs. As., pp. 9-23

THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (MEXICO)

David Webb*

Summary: In this paper the author explores the transition from the pictorial and semasiographic Nahua writing systems to alphabet prose in the Nahua annals during the XVI and XVII centuries. He traces these changes throghout the Codex Mexicanus, the Codex Aubin and the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. The transition to the alphabetic script was necessary to compete with the graphic systems of the Spaniards. The tlacuilo (writers) were aware of the European bias towards the pictographic representation and slowly integrated the alphabetic script. However, the pictorial mode persisted as a counter discourse, underscoring indigenous influence and ethnic pride during the colonial period.

Key words: Nauha codex, pictorial systems, alphabetic writings, XVI- XVII centuries, Mexico

Introduction Although the annals were produced before the arrival of the Spaniards, all of the extant The of Central Mexico employed annals date from the colonial period. The a complex system of pictorial, reason being that many Nahua re- semasiographic narrative strategies before the recorded their histories in order to legitimate arrival of the Spaniards.1 The genres include claims to territory and their rights among genealogies, cartographic histories, other altepetl, using both pictorial and migrations, divinatory texts and the annals. alphabetic ways of writing. This article The Nahuas employed the term icuiloa, focuses specifically on the annals’ genre and meaning both to write and to paint, since no the transition from pictorial to Nahuatl distinction was made between the two artistic alphabetic graphic systems. To better styles. The preconquest, pictorial annals were understand the alphabetic annals of called xiuhpohualli (year-writing) or Chimalpahin and Zapata y Mendoza, I altepetlacuilolli (altepetl writing). This form believe it is indispensable to overview the of writing focuses on important events from transition from a pictorial to an alphabetic each calendar year and was the most effective ways of writing. To illustrate this transition, means of relating an altepetl’s history. The I will briefly allude to three annals that best writer was a tlacuilo2 (a native scribe) who demonstrate the transition from pictograms wrote or painted usually in tlilli in tlapalli to alphabetic prose and better theorize why (in the black and the red). Topics recorded the semasiographic system ultimately ceded were generally those of interest to the altepetl, to transliterated Nahuatl prose. By doing so, especially meteorological events, military we will understand that the definition of battles as well as public spectacles and writing is distinct to the European standards religious festivals. of the evolution of literacy.

*University of Hawai’I, Mânoa and Seabury Hall. E-mail: [email protected] 10 DAVID WEBB

Mignolo asserts that scholars have of the Spanish and Nahua writing traditions traditionally possessed a narrow view of was crucial in the evolution of the definitions of literacy and for this reason, postconquest annals. Although the majority many of the indigenous writings of the of the preconquest codices were destroyed have been neglected or not been during the Conquest and its aftermath, many completely accepted as literature because sixteenth-century annals employ preconquest many texts do not adhere to the traditional graphic methods. This writing tradition did definitions of literacy by recording speech. not adhere strictly to the definition of literacy He states the following regarding this in the European/Mediterranean sense. Only misconception: the earlier Maya had a system that “…whereas in Walter Ong’s conception, approximated the reproduction of sounds and writing is limited to alphabetic or syllabic syllables recreating whole sentences. For systems. For its part, book is a concept united reasons that are not clear, the Nahuas did not with writing only in the conceptualization of continue with the Mayan phonetic writing a culture in which writing is understood in tradition. Instead, they employed the restricted sense defined by Diringer and conventionalized signs representing images Ong” (Mignolo, 1995). such as the sun, mountains, and water so that In light of this redefinition of the book, a reader who did not speak Nahuatl could this article illustrates how various Nahua readily understand the images. In many cases, communities did indeed possess a legitimate especially with the annals, scribes would means of writing and literacy. In theses texts, write or paint mnemonic hints capable of oral the various tlacuilo attempted to inscribe and interpretation by other scribes trained in this reinscribe their identities as a colonized form of expression. Only minor attempts culture. By studying this evolution from were made at the syllabification or the pictures to prose, we will be better equipped reproduction of spoken Nahuatl. For this to understand the development and evolution reason, many scholars have discounted these of the annals. texts as true forms of writing because they I contend that the transition to the do not precisely adhere to the theories of alphabetic script was necessary to compete Walter Ong, who bases his evolution of with the graphic systems of the Spaniards literacy on the European writing traditions while still using Nahuatl as the main source that strive to emulate speech. of communication. This method allowed The first mode of writing is through individual native communities to posture as pictogram glyph, which is a form of direct a disenfranchised minority under Spanish expression.3 The glyph is usually a one-to- colonial institutions. one representation, so a pictogram of a stone represents a stone. The second type of expression is an ideogram or logogram, Pictorial writing typically consisting of two or more elements combined to communicate the subject matter. The study of the pictorial annals are out An example is the depiction of the altepetl, of the scope of this study but what is which uses the two elements, atl-water, and quintessential is the notion that the interaction tepetl-mountain (the two essential THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 11

components for a preconquest community) Mexicanus begin in leaf sixteen, which to convey the idea of the native city-state. A illustrates the departure of the in the third and less frequently used technique is year One Flint (1668). This event has been the phonetic glyph to convey meaning. An depicted in other manuscripts but the Codex example is the altepetl, Çoquitzinco, “little Mexicanus stands apart from other colonial mud place.” The word “tzin(tli)” in Nahuatl annals in that are entirely in pictographic means buttocks, but its glyph is not used in form. The Mexicanus’year-glyphs are placed its semantic sense, rather is employed to horizontally, depicting their leader, reproduce the sound of the diminutive -tzin , having just ascended the One (Lockhart, 1992: 328). The phonetic strategy Flint year-glyph followed by the Mexica was employed more frequently in the people. The Mexica were not initially a postconquest pictorial codices to pronounce dominant force at the outset and “began their Spanish names that could not be phonetically migration as a small and insignificant band reproduced in Nahuatl. of uncultured people” (Boone, 1994: 30). At this juncture, the Mexica were a small group of people following their leader, Residual preconquest modes of writing: Huitzilopochtli, during the initial stages of Codex Mexicanus their long and arduous journey to the . Huitzilopochtli is depicted in his Although the use of alphabetic text spread hummingbird apparel. The migration quickly throughout the preconquest Nahua continues in the Codex Mexicanus with the communities of Central Mexico, there are a first fifty years rendered pictographically. The few year-count histories that reveal little year One Rabbit, 1194, illustrates the European influence. One of these, the Codex legendary caves of Chicomoztoc with the Mexicanus, written in 1571 by an anonymous seven other Nahua tribes emerging from their tlacuilo (native scribe), supports the thesis mythological origin. In many native writings that the infiltration of the alphabet in the these places are not identified, but the Nahua annals was not consistent, illustrating Mexicanus shows clearly that the Mexica the persistence of pictograms in the begin their arduous journey from Aztlan and postconquest period (Lockhart, 1992: 330- distinguishes them from other Nahuatl- 331). The Mexicanus is a history of the speaking communities. As we will see in the beginnings of the Mexica people from their Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, the place of the exodus from the mythical Aztlan, the seven caves is emphasized as the common establishment of the and their origin of all Nahuas. experience under Spanish colonial rule. The The Codex Mexicanus changes from a last date of the Mexicanus is denoted by the pictographic representation to Nahuatl year-glyph 1608. Its means of recording alphabetic script at this point in the history is consistent with preconquest modes manuscript. While the pictograms narrate the of record keeping that uses pictographic various events pertinent to the early years of forms of representation to illustrate the rise the migration of the Mexica, the Nahuatl of the Mexica. script relates a different story. According to The year-count relations in the Codex Ernst Mengin: “Ce texte, obscur, de caractère 12 DAVID WEBB

astrologique, énumère les douze signes du speaker) in the year One Flint. His name- zodiaque et indique le sort réservé aux êtres glyph is denoted by the ideogram, nés sous chaque signe” (Mengin, 1954: 423). (Handful ofArrows). His glyph Instead of employing the pictorial elements is depicted with speech scrolls emanating to emulate the oral component of the text, from his mouth and a hand grasping three the written Nahuatl relates irrelevant details arrows. of the story, which is a characteristic more The next series of glyphs portray the common in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. formation of the Triple Alliance of As quickly as the Nahuatl alphabetic text , Texcoco and , appears in the Codex Mexicanus it falls out following the loss of control by the . of use for the remainder of the manuscript, The first ruler of the alliance was , after which no more than a few words are who was installed in office in the year One employed. The ’ arrival in Flint (1428) and is depicted by the is denoted by its ideogram of pictogram paired with his serpent name the hill and a grasshopper to represent the glyph. His reign strengthened the ’ year-glyph Nine Reed (1267). Here, foothold in central Mexico, expanding the Huitzilopochtli warns his people that this empire outside the Valley. place is not their destination as he senses The ensuing pages depict the Mexica as a hostility from the Culhua people. The battle growing empire after further conquests in between the two tribes is depicted in leaf central Mexico. Curiously, the annals also thirty-eight atop the year-glyph One House illustrate military defeats and natural disasters (1285). Other battles are rendered in ensuing that cause setbacks for the Triple Alliance, years during which the Mexica undergo so that both positive and negative aspects of further hardships following their arrival in their history are highlighted. One of these is the Valleyof Mexico. Their fortune changes, their defeat at the hands of the Huexotzinca however, when they stumble upon their long- people, in the year Six House (1485). The foretold destination. This is depicted when Huexotzinca place-sign is depicted atop the Huitzilopochtli is illustrated leading his victor who is slaying a Mexica foe. Many people to Tenochtitlan. Folio 44v contains earthquakes, floods and droughts are the cactus, which is the ideogram place-name illustrated with pictograms and ideograms. for Tenochtitlan (the place of the great, An example is the earthquake that occurred prickly cactus). in the year Ten House, which is illustred by The formation of the Aztec empire is the movement of rocks. The years of Eleven portrayed in the year next One-Flint year Rabbit and Twelve Reed illustrate locusts (1324) in the cyclical . The devouring the crops and hailstorms that Mexicanus now depicts the beginnings of the severely depleted the food supply. However, Mexicas’ imperial history and the subsequent these setbacks do not receive the same domination of other Indians and their lands. treatment and attention to detail as the great The first fifty years in Tenochtitlan is a period achievements and the rise of the Aztec of growth and little information recorded. The Empire. Codex Mexicanus, next, illustrates the rise The glyph One Reed (1519) marks the year of the Mexicas’ first tlatoani (the ruler or of the Spaniards’ descent to the Valley of THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 13

Mexico. This final section of the Codex grandeur. This suppression or omission of Mexicanus reveals the installation of colonial information that detracts from a positive institutions and ends with a final entry in projection of an altepetl is consistent in many 1590. Leaves seventy-six and seventy-seven annals. of the Codex Mexicanus recreate the events that stem from Mexicas’ overthrow as a dominant entity in the Valley as well as the Alphabetic and pictographic hybrid introduction of Christianity. Hernando Cortés graphic expressions: codex aubin is shown on a lord’s throne adjacent to Moctezuma II, who has an arrow piercing Whereas Codex Mexicanus is a paradigm his neck, symbolizing his death. for the least acculturated annals of the While the formidable Triple Alliance was sixteenth century, the Codex Aubin displays highly depicted in the preconquest years, pictorial and alphabetic graphic scripts empire, details of the Mexicas diminish in working together to create meaning. The the postconquest years. For instance, the Codex Aubin is another interpretation of the author pictures Hernando Cortés over the Mexicas’ beginnings, rise to power and year-glyph 1516 instead of the accurate year, subsequent defeat by the Spaniards. The 1519. The arrival of the original twelve Aubin, like the Mexicanus, employs the year- Franciscans is pictured in 1528, and not in glyphs as the backbone of its presentation. 1524. The arrival of the first viceroy, Don The name-glyphs run vertically instead of Antonio de Mendoza, in 1535, receives the horizontally and are placed to the left of the same rendering as the rise to power of a page along with the corresponding Mexica tlatoani. In addition, it is important explanation in written Nahuatl found in the to note that the Spanish socio-political middle and the pictographic representation institutions that are imposed upon the Mexica to the far right. are not dwelled on by the native tlacuilo Like the Codex Mexicanus, the beginning rather depicted as a historical continuum. of the text indicates the Mexicas’ departure In conclusion, the Codex Mexicanus from Aztlan but employs distinct graphic retains many preconquest graphic modes of presentation. The name, Aztlan, is characteristics. An example of this tendency written alphabetically under its place glyph is how the procession of time is codified with Huitzilopochtli perched on top of the using individual date glyphs in conjunction place glyph. The following pages of the with pictograms or ideograms atop or beside Aubin describe the Mexicas’ departure from year glyphs. Also, the Mexicanus employs Aztlan, their patron deity Huitzilopochtli as very little alphabetic script. The glyphs do well as other Nahua tribes from their not strive to emulate speech, but merely act aforementioned place of origin. as mnemonic cues to be interpreted by the The text reads vertically instead of reader. The discourse emphasizes the official horizontally during the next portion. In the history of the Mexica and, although mentions year One Acatl the Mexica purportedly negative occurrences during the rise of the receive the maguey plant from the Chalca and Aztec Empire, the text often glosses over or make the fermented pulque beverage for the neglects details that would detract from their first time. The maguey plant is pictured to 14 DAVID WEBB

the right of the year-glyph with a brief written in the year Five Reed and a string of victories description below. The Aubin goes on to depicts his twelve-year reign. What is not relate in detail the Mexicas’ encounters with indicated, however, is the Mexicas’ defeat different groups before arriving in the Valley by the Tarascans of Michoacán during these of Mexico. The Mexicas’ arrival in years.Also depicted in Axayatl’s reign, is the Chapultepec is unmistakable, as its place dedication of the completed glyph occupies most of the page. The in the year Eight Reed (1487). The scene also grasshopper is shown atop a hill under the describes how sacrificial victims were date glyph One Rabbit and the Nahuatl script brought from outlying altepetl to consecrate describes how the Culhua overpower the the Templo Mayor. Reports from supporting Mexica. The year One Flint (1324) portrays historical documents estimate that as many the eagle perched on the giant cactus rooted as 20.000 people were sacrificed in this in the rocks, which denotes the place dedication. This event is portrayed in great Huitzilopochtli had foretold would be their detail and confirmed that the nascent Aztec home. At this juncture, the two codices, the Empire was a force to be reckoned within Mexicanus and Aubin, share many central Mexico. similarities in the manner in which they Mocteczuma Xocoyotzin II’s earlier portray the Mexicas’ humble beginnings. accomplishments are often overshadowed by However, the mode of portrayal varies the Spaniards’ arrival. Although he did considerably as the Aubin often includes expand the Empire during his eighteen-year entire pages of written Nahuatl that expand reign from 1502-1520, he is perceived to have on important events and clarify ambiguities. facilitated the Spaniard’s entry and The written Nahuatl serves as the subsequent conquest of the Empire. The preconquest oral component, which is an Spaniards’ arrival is noted as the tlacuilo interpretation of the glyphs. departs from representational model to The following pages contain very few describe the events between 1519 and 1521. date-glyphs with any information and the He speaks of the first sign of the Caxtilteca scribe reverts to a horizontal portrayal. The (Spaniards), their arrival in the Valley of first tlatoani of Tenochtitlan’s royal dynasty, Mexico and the occupation of the city and Acamapichtli, is mentioned in the year One its downfall in the year Five Reed. The Codex Flint. The second and third rulers are denoted Aubin contains a large section of written by their name glyphs with the alphabetic text Nahuatl describing the Spaniards’ arrival and to the right. The Codex Aubin does not conquest of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the present any important information until it Aztec Empire. portrays the great flood of One Rabbit in Subsequent to the Aztecs’ rise to power 1454. In this year, Mexica families were as an imperial state, the Codex Aubin also forced, on many occasions, to sell their describes the early colonial period. The Aubin children into slavery(Boone, 1994: 50). Leaf depicts the first portion of the period in great 35r of the Aubin portrays slaves tied to one detail, as opposed to the Mexicanus, which another and being led to the Gulf Coast to be lacks specificity regarding dates and other sold to the of Veracruz. pertinent details. The arrival of the twelve ’s ascent to the throne is pictured Franciscans is noted under the correct year THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 15

marker, Six Flint (1524). There is a friar component identifies the topic and gives some portrayed teaching religious doctrines to two basic information; the alphabetic text, Indians. assuming the role of the preconquest oral After portraying the Conquest, the Codex component, repeats the information and Aubin returns to its original horizontal expands on it” (Lockhart, 1992: 351). composition. The arrival of don Antonio de In some instances the Codex Aubin Mendoza, the first viceroy of Mexico, is deviates from this scheme, but typically the shown in 1536. The Codex Aubin also text employs both graphic systems to create portrays the native perspective of society. meaning and represents an important One of the smallpox epidemics that transition from pictures to prose in the annals’ eradicated much of the native population is genre in the sixteenth century. rendered in the 1531 entry. The Nahuatl prose states that yquac totomonihuac (they broke European influences in mesoamerican out in blisters). writing practices: Historia Tolteca- In the latter half of the sixteenth century Chichimeca (codex chimalpopocatl) the Codex Aubin portrays events in . In this instance we see the use of Whereas the Mexicanus and Aubin offer phonetic glyphs to represent the names of an official history of the Mexica and the Spanish officials. An example is in the year Triple Alliance, the Historia Tolteca- Three House (1573) when the governor, don Chichimeca recounts the history of an Francisco Jimenez, died on Friday at ancillary altepetl, the Cuauhtinchan, from the midnight (Lockhart,1992: 351). A collapsed region. The Historia Tolteca- body is portrayed by a phonetic glyph for Chichimeca is an elaborately constructed Francisco: pan(ctli)-banner, ci(lin)-seashell manuscript and is, curiously, the earliest of and co(mitl) to form the Nahuatl the three codices. The Historia was pronunciation for Francisco-pancico. completed between 1545 and 1563 and the Changes to Nahua political offices are also text displays obvious European influences portrayed. In the same year, Antonio (Kirchoff, et. al: 1976, 11-15). The Historia Valeriano is shown ascending to be judge of Tolteca-Chichimeca, despite its greater Tenochtitlan, portrayed by another phonetic degree of European acculturation, retains representation. A figure is shown seated on a some prehispanic graphic traditions. On throne holding a Spanish staff with phonetic occasion, it uses year-glyphs and pictorial glyphs rendering his name: a(tl)and to(totl) elements, which serve as a framework for the or “a-to” for Antón. Nahuatl alphabetic script.4 However, it While the Codex Mexicanus faithfully represents the final step in the transition to maintains preconquest discursive modes, the Nahuatl alphabetic prose in the Nahua annals’ Codex Aubin represents an interstitial stage tradition. in which the alphabetic script is utilized to The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca begins complement the pictorial elements. As with no mention of Aztlan, but rather starts Lockhart summarizes: in medias res. The text begins with a “Thus in the Codex Aubin, as in depiction of the Nonoaulaca arriving in preconquest practice, the pictorial Tollan with their allies, the Tolteca- 16 DAVID WEBB

Chichimeca. After this time, a schism The Olmeca-Xicalanca group occupies the develops between the two groups because of Cholula area but grants permission to the a boy named Huemac who “…requests four Tolteca to live among them. This is depicted virgins whose buttocks measure four spans in the detailed illustrations, subsumed in f.9v across” (Leibsohn: 1993, 301). Although a and f.10r, and expanded on in the following year-glyph is present, the action is pages in the prose section. This arrangement communicated predominately by the becomes increasingly unsatisfactory for the alphabetic script. The boy’s request incites Tolteca who wish to be a sovereign group animosities between the two groups who and devise a ruse to defeat their hosts. The finally resolve their quarrels by killing Nahuatl alphabetic script, in leaves 11r Huemac. Afterward, the Nonoualca leave through 13v, describes the dance they pretend Tollan in disgrace. At this juncture in the year to perform for the Olmeca-Xicalanca. Two House, they divide and leave the However, during the performance they Tolteca-Chichimeca group. Leibsohn (1993: ambush them and assume control (Leibsohn, 312) notes, “…they do not say good-bye, just 1993: 324-328). In the conclusion of this part because of fear”. The Nonoualca now of the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, the wander with some of their original group and tlacuilo outlines the new boundaries that the establish their own altepetl. The place glyph Tolteca have redrawn after emerging as the for the Nonoulaca is the only pictorial controlling power of the area. component used in this instance with the The third section of the Historia occupies Nahuatl alphabetic script occupying the the majority of the manuscript and relates the majority of the page. outcome of the battle and the subsequent The following section focuses on the transfer of power to the Tolteca. The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca people, who remain in now illustrates how the Tolteca maintain Tollan thirteen years after the departure of control of the Cholula area. Under the advice their former allies. At this juncture in the of their deity, Mocochehe, the Tolteca leaders Historia, the tlacuilo refers to the Tolteca- travel to the cave of Chicomoztoc. Here they Chichimeca people as just the Tolteca. This seek and receive the aid of the Chichimeca is done to distinguish them from the who reside in the cave. The depiction of this Chichimeca who later re-enter the history. event is found in the multi-colored illustration This portion of the Historia Tolteca- of the Chicomoztoc. This scene is illustrated Chichimeca, which occupies seven leaves, in full detail and explained again in the depicts the Tolteca’s migration to Cholula and alphabetic section. includes vibrant illustrations. This added After much discussion between the various dimensionality and shading are examples of leaders, the Chichimeca people emerge from European influences, however, the the cave and engage in a fasting ritual to do indigenous year-count model is still used. penance and gain strength for the ensuing Unlike the Codex Aubin, which maintains a battles. This full-page illustration depicts the specific pattern throughout, the Historia four Chichimeca leaders, perched on separate Tolteca Chichimeca contains more prose than trees with eagles above two and jaguars over illustrations. the others. After the four-day fast, the seven THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 17

groups emerge from the cave in route to warrior that resembles a Spaniard clad in Cholula to aid the Tolteca in securing their native garments. Leibsohn observes that this sovereignty. event constitutes one of two upheavals that The succeeding leaves illustrate the have irrevocable repercussions on the groups’ return trek to Cholula to fight a battle Cuauhtinchan’s sovereignty (Leibsohn, 1993: against the Olmeca. The Chichimeca 309). The second event occurs sixty-nine continue their sojourn because of the years later in the year Thirteen Rabbit when necessity to find a region in which to settle. the Mexica, under Axayacatzin’s reign, The remainder of this section focuses on the dominate the altepetl of Cuauhtinchan and Chichimeca’s establishment of their altepetl. divide its land among five communities. The only groups that are mentioned from this Although the Cuauhtinchan gain some power, point on are the Totomihuaque and the Mexica subjugates them by the time of Cuauhtinchantlaca. In this section of the text the Spanish conquest. the alphabetic portion occupies more and The colonial era receives little mention in more of the discourse. the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. The final Whereas the third portion of the Historia four leaves portray the Spanish conquest and constitutes the largest portion of the text, the the imposition of Spanish cultural and socio- final section covers the longest time span, economic institutions. The final event from the mid-twelfth century through the mentioned in the Historia Tolteca- initial years of the colonial era. It deals Chichimeca is a land dispute in the colonial specifically with the development of the era between Cuauhtinchan and Tepeaca, Cuauhtinchan altepetl, its conquests and during which the viceroy approves the military battles, the relocation of people in petition supporting the Cuahtinchan. various communities and the succession of In conclusion, the Historia Tolteca- rulers or tlatoque. Here, the tlacuilo abandons Chichimeca exemplifies a further transition his detailed pictures and writes lengthy from pictures to prose in the Nahua annals entries in Nahuatl prose. and also is a counter discourse to the The Cuauhtinchan have unstable mainstream imperial history of the Aztec beginnings but eventually develop into a Empire. Its complicated narrative style traces formidable altepetl on the eve of the Spanish the establishment of the Chichimeca as an conquest. Their loss to the Tlatelolca is noted autonomous altepetl in the late postclassic in the year Ten Rabbit in leaves 43v and 43r. period, with particular emphasis placed on The text has a full-page illustration depicting the Cuauhtinchan community. The tlacuilo the Cuauhtinchan surrounded by the aggrandizes his altepetl throughout the Tlaxcalans. Again, European artistic Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca and attempts to influence is evident in the variegated color reinscribe his community from the margins schemes. Leibsohn notes that, “…the body into the discursive mainstream in the proportions of the warriors and their poses sixteenth century. This text is also also derive from European paintings and/or indispensable because it shows how the prints” (Leibsohn, 1993: 390). Also illustrations no longer work together with the noteworthy in this illustration is the bearded prose to create meaning, but rather serve as 18 DAVID WEBB

pictures that are, in many cases, irrelevant to groups apart from an anonymous the text. These illustrations, although found Chichimeca rank and file, the Historia in some texts in the seventeenth and inflates their significance as it deflates the eighteenth centuries, are rarely employed, as contribution of other groups” (Leibsohn, is seen in the following section with the 1993: 113). In addition, the final portion of beginning of the “mature” annals, which use the text depicts the Cuauhtinchan’s military predominately Nahuatl alphabetic prose to defeats and misfortunes are emphasized in record the histories of an an altepetl. order to communicate the unjust manner by which the Mexica usurped their territories and further divided their land among other Toward an alphabetic form of expression groups. By establishing this preconquest precedent, the native communities were in a The Franciscan friar Motolinía, describing better position to present their land claims to the five types of record keeping, states that Spanish officials. only the annals “…can be trusted because it If these annals were meant solely for recounts the truth...” (Motolinía, 1941: 4- delegations between various altepetl, as 5).A perusal of these codices, however, casts Leibsohn asserts (Leibsohn, 1993: IX-X), doubt on this statement but does call attention then the question arises as to why the tlacuilo to the importance placed on the annals’ genre chose to implement the European script when in colonial Mexico. In each annals, an pictographic writing was equally effective anonymous tlacuilo typically emphasizes the and more universally understood (Mignolo, positive aspects of their altepetl’s history and 1989: 51-96). The alphabet was one of the suppressed the negative ones in an attempt characteristics of the Spanish hegemony and to compete with other native communities in was employed by other annalists, such as territorial disputes and to improve their lot Chimalpahin and Zapata, who had more under Spanish hegemony. In both the Codex contact with Spaniards. The anonymous Mexicanus and the Codex Aubin, the tlacuilo were also aware of the European bias narrative thrust underscores the hardships of toward the pictographic representation and the Mexica people during the migrations to slowly integrated the Nahuatl alphabetic the Valley of Mexico, while the various script. However, the pictographic method did successes following the establishment of the persist in many texts as a counter discourse, Triple Alliance are accentuated. The Historia underscoring the indigenous influence and Tolteca-Chichimeca, in contrast, offers a ethnic pride during the colonial period. rendition of history that stresses the accomplishments of the Tolteca-Chichimeca groups. The Cuauhtinchan tlacuilo highlights Annals written in Nahuatl prose some events while reducing the importance of others. An example of this strategy is Although I have postulated that the resi- encountered during the scene depicting the dual pictographic and logographic forms seven original Chichimeca groups, about persisted, the Nahuatl prose in Latin script which Leibsohn notes: “In setting these two was the predominant way of writing in the THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 19

annals after 1600. This section discusses the very much in the style of the mature, annals written in the Nahuatl alphabet before alphabetic annals although many of his the Historia Chronológica. sources are purported to be from older Possibly due to accidents of preservations, manuscripts and oral narratives from elders the annals from the sixteenth century are in his community. primarily from the Valley of Mexico while Chimalpahin’s most famous and the seventeenth and eighteenth-century recognized Nahua annals are his Ocho annals are from the Puebla-Tlaxcalan Relaciones, divided into eight sub-histories region.5 The authors are usually anonymous that recall the history of , and which and their annals focus on precolonial times focus on his native sub-altepetl of since the goal of the sixteenth-century annals . Chimalpahin attempts to was to exalt the accomplishments of the illustrate his knowledge of both Indian and native altepetl before the Conquest. European histories by relating important One annalist who was prominent during dates and events to provide a transatlantic the beginning of the seventeenth century is perspective to his annals. the aforementioned don Domingo The precolonial portions of the Relaciones de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin focus on the tribes who settle in the Chalco Quauhtlehuanitzin, or Chimalpahin. Not only region. During the colonial period, is he the author of many texts in Nahuatl and Chimalpahin writes about the Spaniards’ Spanish, but also he is one of the few presence in Chalco and the ecclesiastics who annalists who signed their works (Schroeder, came to the New World. He speaks more 1991: 20). The following section discusses approvingly of the Franciscans than of the Chimalpahin’s texts and establishes him as a other mendicant orders. Also, he uses the quintessential predecessor to Zapata y birth of Christ as a point of reference to many Mendoza. events, both Mesoamerican and European. Chimalpahin wrote predominately in The Octava Relación is somewhat different Nahuatl but also was the author of chronicles than the previous seven in that it is a history in Spanish. Curiously, Walter Mignolo asserts of Chimalpahin’s sub-altepetl of the following regarding Chimalpahin and his Tzaqualtitlan Tenanco (Schroeder, 1991: 22). style of writing: In conclusion, the Relaciones are an “The fact Chimalpahin still maintained in invaluable source of information about native his writing the repetitive structure of the oral history in the Valley of Mexico, especially is indicative of the fractures of colonial during the preconquest years. However, it is semiosis in the transition from oral far from an objective account as we see on narratives, in which repetition is a part of many occasions Chimalpahin’s biases everyday speech, to an alphabetic written towards other Nahua groups and most prose”. (Mignolo, 1995). certainly emphasizes the history of his sub- I tend to differ in opinion from Mignolo’s altepetl of Tzaqualtitlan Tenanco throughout assessment of Chimalpahin being a the narrative. The most recent and accurate transitional annalist between the pictorial and study Chimalpahin’s Ocho Relaciones is alphabetic Nahuatl annalists. His structure is Susan Schroeder’s Chimalpahin and the 20 DAVID WEBB

Kingdoms of Chalco (1991). himself to edit, correct, and expand the work Although Chimalpahin’s Relaciones are where and when he saw fit” (Schroeder, 21). his most recognized annals, his Diario or Schroeder is in the process of publishing an contemporary annals provide a insightful edition of this manuscript. In conclusion, we record of his life in Mexico City from a native can surmise that Chimalpahin was one of, if perspective. The Diario was written during not, the most prolific annalist in colonial his stay in the capital from 1589 to 1615 and Mexico, having written both annals and is in the form of annals and relates life in the chronicles in both Spanish and English, capital during the time he worked at the regarding a variety of peoples, histories and chapel of San Antón Abad. Doris Namala’s subject matter. doctoral dissertation focuses on the Diario As previously mentioned, the seventeenth- and sheds light on colonial society and century annals are mostly from the Puebla- culture in Mexico City in the late sixteenth region. There is a large corpus of and early seventeenth centuries. The Diario annals written during the seventeenth and is, in many ways, more akin to Zapata’s eighteenth century. Frances Krug’s Historia Chronológica because it provides a unfinished dissertation explores the first-hand commentary of events. connections and collaboration between the Chimalpahin, however, was not from Mexico annalists of the various altepetl in this area. City and remained outside the native elite, Like Chimalpahin’s annals, Zapata’s Historia in contrast to Zapata. Chronológica surpasses other annals from his A more recently discovered text residing time period because of its multidimensional in the British and Foreign Bible Society has characteristics and discursive style. been attributed to Chimalpahin. These manuscripts are part of the collection attributed to the mestizo historian Alva Final remarks Ixtlilxochitl, which were traded for bibles in the nineteenth century by José María Luis In conclusion, this paper explores the Mora, the librarian of the Colegio de San transition from pictograms to alphabet prose Ildefonso in Mexico City (Schroeder, 1991: in the Nahua annals. I illustrate how the 20). Schroeder andAnderson published these Codex Mexicanus, Codex Aubin and the manuscripts in a study entitled Codex Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca provide clues Chimalpahin. The content of the manuscript as to why the glottified Nahuatl ultimately focuses more on the histories of the Mexica took hold, even though the pictorial element and the Triple Alliance rather than persisted as a complement to Nahuatl prose. Chimalpahin’s native Chalco. Chimalpahin This transition is important in illustrating how is purported to be the author of “La conquista the alphabetic annals became the norm rather de México”, the oldest copy of the now-lost than the exception after the seventeenth original of the second part of Francisco López century. Annalists such as Chimalpahin and de Gómara’s Historia de las Indias. the Tlaxcalan Zapata y Mendoza benefited Schroeder posits that, “Chimalpahin, while greatly from their predecessors. The study copying López de Gómara, took it upon of the evolution and growth of the annals’ THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 21

genre, from its pictorial roots to its alphabetic 1994 Aztec Pictorial Histories: Nahuatl means of expression, is Records Without Words. In: indispensable in apprehending why the Writing Without Words, ed. Nahuas relinquished the preconquest modes Boone, Elizabeth Hill, Walter D. of writing and also to underscore the Mignolo. Durham: Duke persistence of an indigenous parallel University Press. discourse to Spanish letters during the colonial period. Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitain, Francisco de San Antón Muñón 1965 Relaciones originales de Chalco Notes Amaquemecan. (trans. S. Rendón) Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura 1. Here I distinguish “glottographic” (or Económica. phonetic) writing systems that aim at 1983 Octava Relación (ed. Romero representing speech, from Galván, José Rubén). Mexico “semasiographic” writing systems that City: UNAM. communicate ideas independently of 1998 Las ocho Relaciones y el language. memorial de . 2 Vols. (Paleografía y traducción: Rafael 2. Tlacuilo is the agentive of icuiloa Tena). Mexico City: Cien de (Lockhart: 1992, 326). México.

3. I use Lockhart, 1992: 326-329, as well Galarza, J. as Galarza, 1979, as a guide to 1979 Estudios de escritura indígena preconquest Nahua ways of writing. tradicional azteca-náhuatl. Mexico City: Archivo General de 4. I use Leibsohn’s doctoral dissertation la Nación. for the Nahuatl translations and discus- sion of the Historia Tolteca- Karttunen, F. Chichimeca. To date, her study is the 1983 An Analytical Dictionary of first English translation of this text. Nahuatl. Austin: University of Austin Press. 5. This information was communicated to me via personal communication from Kirchoff, P. James Lockhart. 1974 La Historia tolteca-chichimeca. Un estudio histórico-sociológico. In: Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca: References Anales de Quauhtinchan. trans. Heinrich Berlein and Silvia Boone, E. H. Rendón, XIX-LXIV. Mexico 1994 The Aztec World. Washington City: José Porrúa e Hijos. D.C.: St. Remy Press. 22 DAVID WEBB

Kirchoff, P., L. O. Güemes, L. Reyes García, analysis of the writings of a (eds. and trans.) Nahua Annalist of seventeenth- 1976 Historia tolteca-chichimeca. century Mexico concerning his México: Instituto Nacional de own lifetime. Dissertation: Antropología e Historia. University of California, Los Angeles. Lehmann, W. and G.. Kutscher 1981 Geschichte der Azteken: Codex Schroeder, S. Aubin und verwandt Dokumente. 1991 Chimalpahin and the Kingdoms Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag. of Chalco. Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press. Leibsohn, D. 1993 The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. Schroeder, S. and A. J.O. Anderson (eds.) Dissertation: University of 1997 Codex Chimalpahin, Vol. 1. California at Los Angeles. Los Norman and London: Univ. of Angeles: UCLA. Oklahoma Press.

León-Portilla, M. Zapata y Mendoza, J. B. 1963 Aztec Thought and Culture. trans. Cronología de la Noble Ciudad Jack Emory Davis. Norman and de Tlaxcala. Méxicain Ms. 212, London: University of Oklahoma collection. E. Eug. Goupil, Press. Ancienne collection J.M.A. Aubin. Lockhart, J. 1992 The Nahuas After the Conquest. Stanford: Stanford University Resumen Press. En este trabajo el autor explora la transi- Mengin, E. ción de los sistemas pictográficos de los 1952 Commentaire du Codex Nahua hacia escrituras de tipo alfabética du- Mexicanus. Journal de la Societé rante los siglos XVI y XVII. La investiga- des Américanistes, 41. ción rastrea los cambios a través del Codex Mexicanus, el Codex Aubin ylaHistoria Mignolo, W. de Tolteca-Chichimeca. La transición a la es- 1995 The darker side of the critura alfabética fue necesaria para compe- Reinassance. Literary, Territo- tir con el sistema gráfico de los españoles. riality and Colonization. Ann Los tlacuilco (amanuenses) tenían conoci- Harbor:Univewrsity of Michigan miento de los problemas de los europeos para Press. comprender las representaciones pictográficas y lentamente fueron introdu- Namala, D. M. ciendo en el Nahuatl los signos del alfabeto 2002 Chimalpahin in his time: an español. No obstante, el modo pictórico de THE NAHUA ANNAL’. GENRE FROM THE SIXTEENTH AND (...) 23

expresión persistió como un contradiscurso, subrayando la influencia indígena y el orgu- llo étnico durante el período colonial.

Top View