Traditionally, writing has been considered a major benchmark in the development of human societie... more Traditionally, writing has been considered a major benchmark in the development of human societies: its appearance marks the boundary between history and pre-history, on the one hand, and the corresponding disciplines of history and archaeology, on the other. In more contemporary scholarship, however, the term "pre-historic" does not have the same currency as in the past, because it often implies a qualitative deficiency that is no longer politically correct. In colloquial use and increasingly in academic discourse, "history" is normally conceived as a more general term referring to past events regardless of whether or not they are documented with written texts. Nevertheless, the existence or absence of writing in a given society has inherent implications for the methodological approaches available for investigating the past. Archaeologists can certainly apply the methodology of examining the material remnants of human cultures to a period after the advent of writing. In fact, this is a very productive endeavor that attests to the fact that written documentation can never tell the entire story. The historical method of reading and analyzing documents, however, is restricted to periods in which written documentation exists. In the investigation of societies with a form of writing that is no longer in use and the knowledge of which has been lost, efforts to decipher their writing systems and to study their texts present a unique challenge that often attracts researchers from various disciplines: archaeologists and historians, of course, but also linguists, art historians, and anthropologists as well. When the system of writing is tied to verbal language, as in the case of the Maya syllabic script, researchers have a natural tendency to develop and articulate their projects in interdisciplinary terms: thorough archaeological research of the Maya area, for example, now demands training in Maya language and epigraphy. Writing systems whose conventions are either partially unknown or not tied directly to verbal language open up an interdisciplinary space with less-defined methodological constraints. The freedom of this interdisciplinary space can be extraordinarily productive for stimulating theoretical reflection, but it also has its limitations. Even partial ignorance of the underlying principles of a writing system means that decipherment projects are 1
Latin American Literature in Transition: Pre-1492-1800, 2023
The Hieronymite friar Ramon Pane traveled to the New World in 1494 on Columbus's second voyage. C... more The Hieronymite friar Ramon Pane traveled to the New World in 1494 on Columbus's second voyage. Columbus sent Pane to live among the Tainos of the Island of Hispaniola in order to document their religious beliefs and practices. The fi rst eight chapters of Pane's report deal with the origin of the Indians followed by the creation of the oceans in chapters nine and ten. This order of events bothered Pane because it did not conform to the chronological logic of European historiography. At the end of chapter eight, Pane explains that he wrote this information quickly and thus could not organize it properly: "Puesto que escribf de prisa, y no tenfa papel bastante, no pude poner en su lugar lo que por error rraslade a otro; pero con todo eso, no he errado, porque ellos lo creen todo tal como lo he escrito. Volvamos ahora a lo que debfamos haber puesto primero, esto es, a la opinion que tienen sabre el origen y principio del mar" (15-) [Given that I wrote quickly, and I did not have enough paper, I could not put in its place that which I mistakenly placed elsewhere; but with all that, I have not erred because they believe everything just as I have written it. Let us return now to what we should have put fi rst, that is, the opinion they have about the origin and beginning of the ocean]. 1 This and similar passages through out the text indicate a misalignment between two different discursive regimes.
Most criticism of the secular Quechua play Ollantay has focused on the debate as to whether the p... more Most criticism of the secular Quechua play Ollantay has focused on the debate as to whether the play is essentially Hispanic or indigenous in origin. The reduction of this issue to such a binary opposition fails to take into consideration the essentially transcultural nature of the work. Regardless of whether or not a version of the story dramatized in Ollantay belonged to some kind of indigenous tradition, the alphabetic version that has survived is a product of the eighteenth-century Inca renaissance. The social and political context of eighteenth-century Cuzco informs an analysis of the two khipu readings in the play and the way in which these passages were translated in the nineteenth century. The implicit description of the khipu in the initial Spanish and English translations appears to reflect what may have been colonial innovations in khipu practices.
La naturaleza compleja de la Nueva corónica y buen gobierno de FelipeGuaman Poma de Ayala admite ... more La naturaleza compleja de la Nueva corónica y buen gobierno de FelipeGuaman Poma de Ayala admite diferentes —y aun contradictorias—lecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de hoy acercade este autor indígena hace difícil una comprensión de la relación entresu obra y su contexto socioeconómico y político. Este ensayo proponeesclarecer esta relación al combinar lo que se sabe de Guaman Poma deotras fuentes y un análisis de lo que el autor revela sobre sí mismo en sutexto.
Introduction Part I. Andean Media Prior to the Conquest: 1. Early Andean societies and semiotic p... more Introduction Part I. Andean Media Prior to the Conquest: 1. Early Andean societies and semiotic practices 2. Middle Horizon media and the emergence of the khipu 3. The khipu and the Inca state Part II. The Khipu in the Colonial Period, 1532-1650: 4. Khipu historiography and colonial chronicles 5. Spanish visitas and administrative khipu 6. The khipu and the colonial state 7. Ecclesiastical khipu and Spanish evangelization Conclusion.
... [Access article in PDF] The Poetics Of Khipu Historiography: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala'... more ... [Access article in PDF] The Poetics Of Khipu Historiography: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's Nueva corónica and the Relación de los quipucamayos. ... Undeniably European discursive genres influenced Guaman Poma's Nueva corónica y buen gobierno. ...
admite diferentes -y aun contradictoriaslecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de... more admite diferentes -y aun contradictoriaslecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de hoy acerca de este autor indígena hace difícil una comprensión de la relación entre su obra y su contexto socioeconómico y político. Este ensayo propone esclarecer esta relación al combinar lo que se sabe de Guaman Poma de otras fuentes y un análisis de lo que el autor revela sobre sí mismo en su texto.
Galvin (1590), f. 76v. Cuidado de la edición, diseño de cubierta y diagramación de interiores: Fo... more Galvin (1590), f. 76v. Cuidado de la edición, diseño de cubierta y diagramación de interiores: Fondo Editorial PUCP Primera edición: febrero de 2013 Tiraje: 500 ejemplares Prohibida la reproducción de este libro por cualquier medio, total o parcialmente, sin permiso expreso de los editores.
By these knots they counted the successions of the times and when each Inca ruled, the children h... more By these knots they counted the successions of the times and when each Inca ruled, the children he had, if he was good or bad, valiant or cowardly, with whom he was married, what lands he conquered, the buildings he constructed, the service and riches he received, how many years he lived, where he died, what he was fond of; in sum, everything that books teach and show us was got from there. 1 Martín de Murúa
Indigenous American societies pose serious problems for traditional theories of orality, literacy... more Indigenous American societies pose serious problems for traditional theories of orality, literacy, and writing. This article attempts to deconstruct the orality-literacy dichotomy that has traditionally informed anthropological thought (whether it be of anthropologists, historians, literary critics, or others). Using indigenous American media such as the Andean khipu, Moche fine-line painting, and Mesoamerican iconography as a starting and ending point, it proposes a dialogic model of literacy and subsequently a dialogic model of media that constitutes a revision of the traditional anthropological and historical theory relating to the role of writing/media, its relationship to the development of socioeconomic and political complexity, and its cognitive effects.
Traditionally, writing has been considered a major benchmark in the development of human societie... more Traditionally, writing has been considered a major benchmark in the development of human societies: its appearance marks the boundary between history and pre-history, on the one hand, and the corresponding disciplines of history and archaeology, on the other. In more contemporary scholarship, however, the term "pre-historic" does not have the same currency as in the past, because it often implies a qualitative deficiency that is no longer politically correct. In colloquial use and increasingly in academic discourse, "history" is normally conceived as a more general term referring to past events regardless of whether or not they are documented with written texts. Nevertheless, the existence or absence of writing in a given society has inherent implications for the methodological approaches available for investigating the past. Archaeologists can certainly apply the methodology of examining the material remnants of human cultures to a period after the advent of writing. In fact, this is a very productive endeavor that attests to the fact that written documentation can never tell the entire story. The historical method of reading and analyzing documents, however, is restricted to periods in which written documentation exists. In the investigation of societies with a form of writing that is no longer in use and the knowledge of which has been lost, efforts to decipher their writing systems and to study their texts present a unique challenge that often attracts researchers from various disciplines: archaeologists and historians, of course, but also linguists, art historians, and anthropologists as well. When the system of writing is tied to verbal language, as in the case of the Maya syllabic script, researchers have a natural tendency to develop and articulate their projects in interdisciplinary terms: thorough archaeological research of the Maya area, for example, now demands training in Maya language and epigraphy. Writing systems whose conventions are either partially unknown or not tied directly to verbal language open up an interdisciplinary space with less-defined methodological constraints. The freedom of this interdisciplinary space can be extraordinarily productive for stimulating theoretical reflection, but it also has its limitations. Even partial ignorance of the underlying principles of a writing system means that decipherment projects are 1
Latin American Literature in Transition: Pre-1492-1800, 2023
The Hieronymite friar Ramon Pane traveled to the New World in 1494 on Columbus's second voyage. C... more The Hieronymite friar Ramon Pane traveled to the New World in 1494 on Columbus's second voyage. Columbus sent Pane to live among the Tainos of the Island of Hispaniola in order to document their religious beliefs and practices. The fi rst eight chapters of Pane's report deal with the origin of the Indians followed by the creation of the oceans in chapters nine and ten. This order of events bothered Pane because it did not conform to the chronological logic of European historiography. At the end of chapter eight, Pane explains that he wrote this information quickly and thus could not organize it properly: "Puesto que escribf de prisa, y no tenfa papel bastante, no pude poner en su lugar lo que por error rraslade a otro; pero con todo eso, no he errado, porque ellos lo creen todo tal como lo he escrito. Volvamos ahora a lo que debfamos haber puesto primero, esto es, a la opinion que tienen sabre el origen y principio del mar" (15-) [Given that I wrote quickly, and I did not have enough paper, I could not put in its place that which I mistakenly placed elsewhere; but with all that, I have not erred because they believe everything just as I have written it. Let us return now to what we should have put fi rst, that is, the opinion they have about the origin and beginning of the ocean]. 1 This and similar passages through out the text indicate a misalignment between two different discursive regimes.
Most criticism of the secular Quechua play Ollantay has focused on the debate as to whether the p... more Most criticism of the secular Quechua play Ollantay has focused on the debate as to whether the play is essentially Hispanic or indigenous in origin. The reduction of this issue to such a binary opposition fails to take into consideration the essentially transcultural nature of the work. Regardless of whether or not a version of the story dramatized in Ollantay belonged to some kind of indigenous tradition, the alphabetic version that has survived is a product of the eighteenth-century Inca renaissance. The social and political context of eighteenth-century Cuzco informs an analysis of the two khipu readings in the play and the way in which these passages were translated in the nineteenth century. The implicit description of the khipu in the initial Spanish and English translations appears to reflect what may have been colonial innovations in khipu practices.
La naturaleza compleja de la Nueva corónica y buen gobierno de FelipeGuaman Poma de Ayala admite ... more La naturaleza compleja de la Nueva corónica y buen gobierno de FelipeGuaman Poma de Ayala admite diferentes —y aun contradictorias—lecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de hoy acercade este autor indígena hace difícil una comprensión de la relación entresu obra y su contexto socioeconómico y político. Este ensayo proponeesclarecer esta relación al combinar lo que se sabe de Guaman Poma deotras fuentes y un análisis de lo que el autor revela sobre sí mismo en sutexto.
Introduction Part I. Andean Media Prior to the Conquest: 1. Early Andean societies and semiotic p... more Introduction Part I. Andean Media Prior to the Conquest: 1. Early Andean societies and semiotic practices 2. Middle Horizon media and the emergence of the khipu 3. The khipu and the Inca state Part II. The Khipu in the Colonial Period, 1532-1650: 4. Khipu historiography and colonial chronicles 5. Spanish visitas and administrative khipu 6. The khipu and the colonial state 7. Ecclesiastical khipu and Spanish evangelization Conclusion.
... [Access article in PDF] The Poetics Of Khipu Historiography: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala'... more ... [Access article in PDF] The Poetics Of Khipu Historiography: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's Nueva corónica and the Relación de los quipucamayos. ... Undeniably European discursive genres influenced Guaman Poma's Nueva corónica y buen gobierno. ...
admite diferentes -y aun contradictoriaslecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de... more admite diferentes -y aun contradictoriaslecturas. La poca información que tenemos hasta el día de hoy acerca de este autor indígena hace difícil una comprensión de la relación entre su obra y su contexto socioeconómico y político. Este ensayo propone esclarecer esta relación al combinar lo que se sabe de Guaman Poma de otras fuentes y un análisis de lo que el autor revela sobre sí mismo en su texto.
Galvin (1590), f. 76v. Cuidado de la edición, diseño de cubierta y diagramación de interiores: Fo... more Galvin (1590), f. 76v. Cuidado de la edición, diseño de cubierta y diagramación de interiores: Fondo Editorial PUCP Primera edición: febrero de 2013 Tiraje: 500 ejemplares Prohibida la reproducción de este libro por cualquier medio, total o parcialmente, sin permiso expreso de los editores.
By these knots they counted the successions of the times and when each Inca ruled, the children h... more By these knots they counted the successions of the times and when each Inca ruled, the children he had, if he was good or bad, valiant or cowardly, with whom he was married, what lands he conquered, the buildings he constructed, the service and riches he received, how many years he lived, where he died, what he was fond of; in sum, everything that books teach and show us was got from there. 1 Martín de Murúa
Indigenous American societies pose serious problems for traditional theories of orality, literacy... more Indigenous American societies pose serious problems for traditional theories of orality, literacy, and writing. This article attempts to deconstruct the orality-literacy dichotomy that has traditionally informed anthropological thought (whether it be of anthropologists, historians, literary critics, or others). Using indigenous American media such as the Andean khipu, Moche fine-line painting, and Mesoamerican iconography as a starting and ending point, it proposes a dialogic model of literacy and subsequently a dialogic model of media that constitutes a revision of the traditional anthropological and historical theory relating to the role of writing/media, its relationship to the development of socioeconomic and political complexity, and its cognitive effects.
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