"Secret Language" in Oral and Graphic Form

Religious-Magic Discourse in Aztec Speeches and Manuscripts

Bibliographic Data

ID5816004
AuthorsKatarzyna Dąbrowska-Gruszczyńska (0000-0001-7475-2000, corresponding author), Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska
Year2010
Volume25
Issue2
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOral tradition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0883-5365 • E-ISSN: 1542-4308
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/ort.2010.0026
OpenAlexW2148267055
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited12

Secret Language" in Oral and Graphic Form:Religious-Magic Discourse in Aztec Speeches and Manuscripts Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska (bio) Introduction On the eve of the conquest, oral communication dominated Mesoamerican society, with systems similar to those defined by Walter Ong (1992 [1982]), Paul Zumthor (1983), and Albert Lord (1960 [2000]), although a written form did exist. Its limitations were partly due to the fact that it was used only by a limited group of people (Craveri 2004:29), and because the Mixtec and Nahua systems do not totally conform to a linear writing system.1 These forms of graphic communication are presented in pictographic manuscripts, commonly known as codices. The analysis of these sources represents an almost independent discipline, as they increasingly become an ever more important source for Mesoamerican history, religion, and anthropology. The methodology used to study them largely depends on how the scholar defines "writing." Some apply the most rigid definition of a system based on the spoken language and reflecting its forms and/or structures (e.g., Coulmas 1996:xxvi), while others accept a broader definition of semasiographic systems that can transmit ideas independent of actual spoken language (yet function at the same logical level) and thus also constitute writing (e.g., Sampson 1985:26-31). The aim of this study is to analyze the linguistic "magical-religious" register of the Nahua people, designated as such because it was used for communication with the sacred realm. In this respect, it represents one of the "sacred languages," as classified by Zumthor (1983:53). Since such registers are less liable to change, they permit the reconstruction-although always imperfectly-of this type of speech as it existed immediately prior to the arrival of the Europeans and in addition the decipherment of (at least some) of the characteristic elements of Nahua oral tradition. In the discussion that follows we develop a hypothesis, namely that in the Mesoamerican codices that focus on calendar-religious subjects, in other words on matters strictly linked to the supernatural world, a similar magical-religious register should be evident. Far from considering the information presented in these sources as resulting from the direct transcription of oral language, my idea is that the graphic form represents elements emblematic of orality, although adapted to this particular context for expression. Magical-Religious Discourse The magical-religious speech of the Nahua is one of the ceremonial and esoteric languages described by Zumthor as "sacred," "erudite," or "poetic." Referring to the Mesoamerican context in particular, Alfredo López Austin (1967:1) termed these as "magical," whereas Maarten Jansen (1985:3) described them as "divine languages." Jansen demonstrates that this type of language, iya, also existed in Mixtec culture and was remarkable for its "metaphors and elegant expressions" (7-10). At the present time these expressions continue to be used in ritual discourse, for example in the Mixtec sahu (López García 2007; Jansen and Pérez Jiménez 2008:88) and in the yectlatolli, "formal speech" of the Nahua from Puebla and the State of Mexico (Peralta Ramírez 2004:175). Without doubt, there also existed a similar form of ceremonial speech among the Maya. In the colonial-era book entitled Chilam Balam de Chumayel (CHBCH 2002:78-89, 112-19), a "figurative language" is described, termed "of Suyua Tan," the understanding of which was obligatory for those assuming the position of leader. The candidate's knowledge of it was tested by means of a contest headed by a representative from the supreme authority, the halach uinic, and was carried out periodically in certain dominions in post-classical Yucatan. The challenge consisted of interpreting certain riddles, expressed in figurative language, which shrouded "a secret code, even more exclusive than any common metaphor" (Rivera Dorado, in CHBCH 2002:78).2 One of the most famous riddles included in this Mayan book asks for "an old nurse maid to care for the milpa (maize patch), her whole body black, her rear of seven palms"3 (ibid.:89): the answer is a squash. Almost the same riddle appears in Toltec culture, where the only difference is that it asks for a woman with hips four palms wide (HTCH 1989:133ff.; Jansen

Archaeology · Art · Linguistics · Literature · MAGIC (telescope · Realm · Writing system · Written language · History · Latin American history and culture · Literary and Cultural Studies · Philosophy

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