{"product_id":"the-language-of-the-conquerors-when-amerindians-spoke-latin-in-sixteenth-century-mexico-paperback-softback-9781509565238","title":"The Language of the Conquerors; When Amerindians Spoke Latin in Sixteenth-Century Mexico (Paperback \/ softback) 9781509565238","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Language of the Conquerors\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eWhen Amerindians Spoke Latin in Sixteenth-Century Mexico\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eSerge Gruzinski (Author), Nancy Erber (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509565238, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 27 February 2026\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e288 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.431 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"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 \u003ci\u003eThe Old World and the New\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Laird, Brown University, author of \u003ci\u003eAztec Latin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlessandra Russo, Columbia University, author of \u003ci\u003eA New Antiquity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Very readable and full of interesting material\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Prisma\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart One: An Alphabetic Unleashing\u003cbr\u003eChapter I. The \"Aztec\" Psalter\u003cbr\u003eChapter II. An alphabetic unleashing\u003cbr\u003eChapter III. The First Wave\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart Two: Learning to Read, Write and Sing\u003cbr\u003eChapter IV. The First Teachers\u003cbr\u003eChapter V. The First Pupils\u003cbr\u003eChapter VI. How the Apprenticeship Worked \u003cbr\u003eChapter VII. Indigenous Musicians\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart Three: What is Latin Good For?\u003cbr\u003eChapter VIII. A University for Indigenous Scholars\u003cbr\u003eChapter IX. A Prodigious Education Machine\u003cbr\u003eChapter X. \u003ci\u003e\"Reverende pater, nato, cujus casus est?\"\u003c\/i\u003e The Indians' Latin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart Four: \u003ci\u003eNovi homines\u003c\/i\u003e, New Men\u003cbr\u003eChapter XI. Three Lives\u003cbr\u003eChapter XII. A Forest of Texts and Images\u003cbr\u003eChapter XIII. Humanists, Philologists, Political Activists\u003cbr\u003eChapter XIV. The Challenges of the First Globalized World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart Five: A Psalmody for the Indians\u003cbr\u003eChapter XV. The Creators of the Psalmody\u003cbr\u003eChapter XVI. The Alchemy of the Psalter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue: \"Dance, Dance or We Are Lost!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003eList of Abbreviations\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: History [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on History\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22History%20%5BHB%5D%22\"\u003eHB\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52453546885400,"sku":"9781509565238","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509565238.jpg?v=1785286263","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-language-of-the-conquerors-when-amerindians-spoke-latin-in-sixteenth-century-mexico-paperback-softback-9781509565238","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}