Overview

One of the most decisive and irreversible consequences of the Spanish conquest of the Americas was the alphabetic revolution which changed the forms of communication in indigenous societies. Writing, paper and books arrived in the Americas with the conquistadors and they were used as weapons by the Spanish to subjugate local populations and impose Christianity on them. The written word of the conquerors was a key medium of colonization: orders from the imperial metropole were written down, local resources and valuables were recorded and books conveyed knowledge coming from Europe. The children of indigenous elites, trained in humanist values, were soon more familiar with Latin and the Bible than with the beliefs of their ancestors, and the use of Latin instilled new modes of reasoning and thought. By imposing European languages and writing systems, the conquistadors also inculcated a belief in the superiority of the written word and even its holiness. And yet despite this, indigenous people were able to resist alphabetic colonization in other ways, thanks to their extraordinary creativity. By putting language, writing and printing at the centre of his analysis, Serge Gruzinski develops a fresh perspective on the colonization and conversion of the indigenous people of the Americas and enables us to observe in detail how ideas intermingle when two civilizations collide.

Full Product Details

Author:   Serge Gruzinski (Centre for Research on Mexico, Central America and the Andes in Paris) ,  Nancy Erber
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   Polity Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.80cm , Height: 2.70cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.539kg
ISBN:  

9781509565221

ISBN 10:   1509565221
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   27 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Available To Order  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part One: An Alphabetic Unleashing Chapter I. The ""Aztec"" Psalter Chapter II. An alphabetic unleashing Chapter III. The First Wave Part Two: Learning to Read, Write and Sing Chapter IV. The First Teachers Chapter V. The First Pupils Chapter VI. How the Apprenticeship Worked Chapter VII. Indigenous Musicians Part Three: What is Latin Good For? Chapter VIII. A University for Indigenous Scholars Chapter IX. A Prodigious Education Machine Chapter X. ""Reverende pater, nato, cujus casus est?"" The Indians' Latin Part Four: Novi homines, New Men Chapter XI. Three Lives Chapter XII. A Forest of Texts and Images Chapter XIII. Humanists, Philologists, Political Activists Chapter XIV. The Challenges of the First Globalized World Part Five: A Psalmody for the Indians Chapter XV. The Creators of the Psalmody Chapter XVI. The Alchemy of the Psalter Epilogue: ""Dance, Dance or We Are Lost!"" Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Bibliography Notes Index

Reviews

""Serge Gruzinski calls attention to the human consequences for indigenous peoples across the Americas of the drastic changes wrought by European languages and writing technologies. This book provides a vital twenty-first century counterpart to J. H. Elliott's The Old World and the New."" Andrew Laird, Brown University, author of Aztec Latin ""Rapidly mastering the languages of the conquerors brought new speakers to reinvent how and what to tell, in writing. This groundbreaking book is not just a history of hegemonic alphabetization, or of indigenous resistance to Latin and Spanish. It's a history of that active reinventing, one that becomes inspirational well beyond the early modern times."" Alessandra Russo, Columbia University, author of A New Antiquity

Author Information

Serge Gruzinski is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Director of Studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.

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