Cultural Performances of Ancient Mesoamerica 3305-WKM-U
The aim of the course is the study of pre-Hispanic and colonial performances from the cultural area of Mesoamerica and to analyse their continuity, transformations, and rearticulations in contemporary performative practices. The course enables students to deepen their knowledge of rituals, spectacles, and performative practices of Mesoamerican cultures from historical and anthropological perspectives, with particular attention to their social, political, and religious functions. The course also highlights the role of performances in the processes of constructing and negotiating cultural and historical memory, as well as in shaping narratives of the past within colonial and postcolonial contexts.
The course develops advanced analytical and research competencies in the field of Performance Studies and the anthropology of performance. It includes reflection on the relationships between theatre and ritual, performativity, embodiment, experience, and performative aesthetics. Particular emphasis is placed on developing the ability to apply theoretical tools from Performance Studies and the anthropology of performance in the analysis and interpretation of cultural phenomena operating outside dominant Eurocentric traditions, as well as in their articulation within contemporary humanities discourse.
An important component of the course is also reflection on the methodology of researching ephemeral performances, whose reconstruction is based on the analysis of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historical sources. Students learn critical approaches to colonial texts and historical documents, with awareness of their ideological and discursive conditioning. In this context, both ritual and political performances are analysed, as well as their literary and verbal components (including songs, poetic texts, and performative narratives), interpreted both as an integral part of performative practices and as autonomous cultural texts requiring distinct analytical frameworks.
Classes are conducted in Spanish, with the use of selected scholarly texts in English, which supports the development of competences in working with academic literature in foreign languages and enables access to contemporary scholarly debates in Performance Studies and the anthropology of performance.
Disclaimer: some materials presented during the course may contain content that may be disturbing or difficult for sensitive audiences (violence, explicit sexual content). Please take this into consideration when deciding whether to participate in the course.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
Student defines key concepts in Performance Studies (performance, ritual, theatricality, liminality) and applies terminology related to performance analysis (including social metacommentary, performative aesthetics, cultural memory, and performative history); characterizes the major concepts developed by Richard Schechner, Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, and Erika Fischer-Lichte in the context of cultural analysis; distinguishes the principal categories used in the analysis of ritual, drama, and performance in Mesoamerican and colonial New Spanish contexts and describes the main forms of performance in Mesoamerican cultures (e.g. cuicatl, sacrificio gladiatorio); identifies the social, political, and religious functions of selected performative forms in Mesoamerican and New Spanish societies; identifies connections between Iberian studies, anthropology, theatre studies, and cultural history in the analysis of performative phenomena. (K_W01; K_W02; K_W03; K_W04; K_W05; K_W06)
SKILLS:
Student critically analyzes cultural productions and performative practices from Mesoamerica and New Spain; interprets social and cultural phenomena using theories of Performance Studies and interpretive anthropology; synthesizes different theoretical approaches (Schechner, Geertz, Turner, Fischer-Lichte, Connerton) in the analysis of a single performative phenomenon; compares and contrasts different interpretations of ritual, drama, and performance in Mesoamerican studies; conducts a critical reading and interpretation of source texts related to rituals and cultural performances, taking into account their historical, social, and cultural contexts; selects appropriate anthropological and theatre studies methodologies for the analysis of selected cultural performances; formulates coherent interpretations of performative cultural phenomena and presents analytical findings in oral and written form; independently acquires and expands knowledge concerning performance theory and Mesoamerican cultures. (K_U01; K_U02; K_U03)
SOCIAL COMPETENCES:
Student collaborates in pairs or small groups in the joint analysis of cultural phenomena, assuming different roles (e.g. coordinator, commentator, presenter of results); is prepared to participate in academic discussions concerning the interpretation of cultural performances. (K_K01)
Assessment criteria
The condition for passing the course are as follows:
1. Active participation in classes and discussions based on prior reading of source texts and theoretical texts – 20% of the final grade. Participation is assessed through a point system during classes and takes into account preparation based on assigned readings, the ability to critically read source and theoretical texts, as well as the ability to formulate arguments and participate in academic discussion: 1 point – the student participates in the discussion at least once during a 30-minute period of class; 2 points – the student participates in the discussion multiple times and actively contributes to the analysis of the topics discussed. Work in pairs and small groups is subject to ongoing assessment during classes. The following aspects are evaluated: active participation in teamwork (contribution to the analysis of the material), the ability to collaborate and respond to other participants’ statements, the ability to formulate arguments within group discussion, and the readiness to take on different roles within the team (e.g. initiating analysis, commenting, summarizing). The assessment is qualitative in nature.
2. Independent analysis of a selected Mesoamerican cultural performance in the form of a written assignment – 70% of the final grade. The written assignment is completed during the examination session in the classroom, without access to course materials, dictionaries, or the internet. Students receive a fragment of a source text describing a selected cultural perfromance and are required to analyze it using selected theoretical tools discussed during the course. The assignment is evaluated according to five criteria, each accounting for 20% of the assignment grade: 1) correct identification and characterization of the analyzed performative phenomenon; 2) appropriate selection of theoretical tools and analytical methods; 3) ability to critically interpret the source text; 4) coherence and logical organization of the argument; 5) correct use of analytical concepts discussed during the course.
Pass threshold: 60% of the total possible points.
Two unexcused absences are permitted. Each additional absence results in the lowering of the final grade by 0.5. A maximum of two absences may be made up during individual consultations in the form of an oral response covering the material discussed in the relevant class.
All analyses and interpretations prepared as part of the course must constitute the student’s own independent work. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, in particular text generators and automated content production systems, is prohibited in the preparation of oral contributions, analyses of source texts, and the final written assignment.
Bibliography
Muestra de la literatura (durante el curso trabajamos con los fragmentos selecconados):
Acuña, René (1975) Introducción al estudio del Rabinal Achí. México: UNAM.
Alcántara Rojas, Berenice (2015) “«Aun los príncipes a morir vinieron...». Usos del pasado en el canto-baile nahua del siglo XVI”. En: Clementina Battcock y Sergio Botta (coords.) Acerca de la (des)memoria y su construcción en Mesoamérica y Andes. México, Quivira. https://www.academia.edu/23063847/_Aun_los_prC3%ADncipes_a_morir_vinieron..._._Usos_del_pasado_en_el_canto-baile_nahua_del_siglo_XVI_
Bierhorst, John (2009) Ballads of the Lords of New Spain. The codex Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España. Austin, University of Texas Press.
Bierhorst, John (1985) Cantares mexicanos. Songs of the Aztecs. Stanford,Stanford University Press.
Booth, Willard C. (1966) “Dramatic Aspects of Aztec Rituals”. Educational Theatre Journal. 18(4): 421-428. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3205269?seq=1
Bourdieu, Pierre (1997) Razones prácticas. Sobre la teoría de la acción. Barcelona, Editorial Anagrama. http://epistemh.pbworks.com/f/9.+Bourdieu+Razones+Pr%C3%A1cticas.pdf.
Broda, Johanna (1970) “Tlacaxipehualiztli: A reconstruction of an Aztec calendar festival from 16th century sources”. Revista Española de Antropología Americana. 6: 197-274. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwidtZKuh8rpAhXfwsQBHdVUC5sQFjAAegQIBhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Frevistas.ucm.es%2Findex.php%2FREAA%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2FREAA7070110197A%2F25539&usg=AOvVaw1VagQ_LclebsuyS_uBop0C
Brylak, Agnieszka (2016) “Some remarks on teponazcuicatl of the pre-Hispanic Nahuas”. Ancient Mesoamerica. 27: 429-439.
Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin, don Domingo de San Antón Muñón (1998) Las Ocho Relaciones y El Memorial de Colhuacan. 2 vols. Edición y traducción de Rafael Tena. México, CONACULTA.
Connerton, Paul (1989) How Societies Remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal (2008) Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. México, Grupo Editorial Tomo S.A. de C.V.
Díaz Balsera, Viviana (2008) “Celebrating the Rise of a New Sun: The Tlaxcalans Conquer Jerusalem in 1539”. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl. 39: 311-330. http://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/ecn/article/view/15300/14547
Díaz Balsera, Viviana (2001) “A Judeo-Christian Tlaloc or a Nahua Yahweh? Domination, Hybridity and Continuity in the Nahua Evangelization Theater”. Colonial Latn American Review 10(2): 209-227. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233367278_A_Judeo-Christian_Tlaloc_or_a_Nahua_Yahweh_Domination_Hybridity_and_Continuity_in_the_Nahua_Evangelization_Theater
Durán, fray Diego (2006[1967]) Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España e Islas de la Tierra Firme. 2 vols. México, Editorial Porrúa.
Fischer-Lichte, Erika (2016) Estética del performativo. Ed. Giappichelli.
Fischer-Lichte, Erika (2006) “La Ciencia Teatral en la Actualidad. El Giro Performativo en las Ciencias de la Cultura”. http://www.lapetus.uchile./lapetus/ 1346096829(4976)Fischer-Lichte.pdf.
Garibay K., Ángel María (1968) Poesía náhuatl III. Cantares mexicanos. Manuscrito de la Biblioteca Nacional de México. Segunda parte. México, UNAM-IIH.
Garibay K., Ángel María (1965) Poesía Náhuatl II. Cantares Mexicanos. Manuscrito de la Biblioteca Nacional de México. Segunda parte. México, UNAM-IIH.
Geertz, Clifford (2003) “Juego profundo: notas sobre la riña de gallos en Bali”. En: La interpretación de las culturas. Barcelona, Ed. Gedisa: 339-372.
Graulich, Michel (2001) “Atamalcualiztli: fiesta azteca del nacimiento de Cinteotl-Venus”. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl. 32: 358-370. http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/ecn/ecnahuatl32/ECN03218.pdf
Harris, Max (2000) Aztecs, Moors and Christians. Festivals of Reconquest in Mexico and Spain. Austin, University of Texas Press.
Harris, Max (1996) The Dialogical Theatre: Dramatizations of the Conquest of Mexico and the Question of the Other. New York, St. Martin’s Press.
Henríquez Puentes, Patricia (2010) “Rabinal Achi o Danza del Tun. Asuntos sobre el legado de un Don.” Atenea. 502: 55-72. https://scielo.conicyt.cl/pdf/atenea/n502/art_04.pdf
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva (1977) Obras históricas. Edición de Edmundo O’Gorman. Vol. 2. México, UNAM.
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva (1975) Obras históricas. Edición de Edmundo O’Gorman. Vol. 1. México, UNAM.
León-Portilla, Miguel (1994) Quince poetas del mundo náhuatl. México, Diana. https://scielo.conicyt.cl/pdf/atenea/n502/art_04.pdf
Morales Damián, Manuel Alberto (2010) “El ayuno de tamales de agua. Iconografía de la lámina de Atamalcualiztli, Primeros Memoriales”. En: Manuel Alberto Morales Damián (coord.) Tepeapulco: región en perspectiva. Pachuca, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo: 117-148. https://repository.uaeh.edu.mx/bitstream/bitstream/handle/123456789/13478/04_tepeapulco_alberto_morales.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Motolinía (Benavente), fray Toribio de (1985) Historia de los indios de la Nueva España. Madrid, Historia 16.
Offner, Jerome A. (1993) “Dueling Rulers and Strange Attractors; Some Patterns of Disorder and Killing in Aztec Society”. Political and Legal Anthropology Review. 16(2): 65-73. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24497817?seq=1
Rabinal Achi (2003) Rabinal Achí. A Maya Drama of War and Sacrifice. Traducción y edición de Dennis Tedlock. New York, Oxford University Press.
Raby, Dominique (1999) “Xochiquetzal en el cuicacalli. Cantos de amor y voces femeninas entre los antiguos Nahuas”. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl. 30: 203-229. http://www.historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/revistas/nahuatl/pdf/ecn30/592.pdf
Read, Kay A. y Jane Rosenthall (2006) “The Chalcan Woman’s Song: Sex as a Political Metaphor in Fifteenth-Century Mexico”. The Americas. 62(3): 313-348. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4491088?seq=1
Reyes García, Luis (ed.) (2001) “¿Cómo te confundes? ¿Acaso no somos conquistados” Anales de Juan Bautista. México, CIESAS/ Biblioteca Lorenzo Boturini Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Guadalupe.
Sahagún, fray Bernardino de (2012) Florentine Codex. General History of the things of New Spain. Edición de Arthur J. O. Anderson y Charles. E. Dibble. 12 vols. Santa Fe, The School of American Research-University of Utah.
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Sahagún, fray Bernardino de (1969) Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva Espana. 4 vols. Mexico, Editorial Porrúa.
Saurin, Patrick (2002) “Atamalcualiztli ou á la recherche du Tamoanchan perdu. Essai d'interprétation d'une lete religieuse des anciens mexicains”. Archives des sciences sociales des religions. 119: 147-168. https://journals.openedition.org/assr/23222
Schechner, Richard (2012) Estudios de la representación. Una introducción. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Schechner, Richard (1974) “From Ritual to Theatre and Back: Structure/Process of the Efficacy-Entertainment Dyad”. Educational Theater Journal. 26(4): 455-481. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3206608?seq=1
Taylor, Diana (2004) “Scenes of Cognition: Performance and Conquest”. Theatre Journal. 56(3): 353-372. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25069464?seq=1
Townsend, Camilla (2006) “«What in the World Have You Done to Me, My Lover?» Sex, Servitude and Politics among the Pre-Conquest Nahuas as Seen in the Cantares Mexicanos”. The Americas. 62(3): 347-389. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4491089?seq=1
Turner, Victor W. (1988) The Anthropology of Performance. New York, PAJ Publications.
Turner, Victor W. (1982) From Ritual To Theatre. The Human Seriousness of Play. New York, PAJ Publications.
Wilshire, Bruce (1990) “The Concept of the Paratheatrical”. The Drama Review. 34(4): 169-178. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1146050?seq=1
Zapata y Mendoza, don Juan Buenaventura (1995) Historia cronológica de la Noble Ciudad de Tlaxcala. Edición y traducción de Luis Reyes García y Andrea Martinez Baracs. Tlaxcala/México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Tlaxcala/CIESAS.