When the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica in the early years of the sixteenth century there were several distinct writing systems in use. The illuminated screenfold books, or codices, that survived the conquest are of special interest to historians and anthropologists because they present a picture of native society that is largely unmediated by Spanish colonialism. But as a literary tradition they are also of great interest, and codices are now being taught alongside other kinds of books in world literature classes. These manuscripts recount heroic histories and royal genealogies; record calendrical and divinatory information; and contain accounts of world creation, the origin of humanity, and the actions of the gods. As Elizabeth Boone notes, early Spanish chroniclers described the books of central Mexico as being written in “symbols and pictures” (p. 1) since they employed the resources of the visual arts in their texts: color, spacing, juxtaposition, human figures painted...
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
