Language of the Conquerors : When Amerindians Spoke Latin in Sixteenth-century Mexico

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.

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.