Through the Veil of Christianity: the (Almost) Evangelization of the Nahuas in Colonial Mexico Sarah Burke Faculty mentor: Veronica Rodriguez The University of Virginia's College at Wise
When Spain colonized Mexico, they attempted to convert the native Nahuas to Christianity. The church kept records in which they provide examples of the methods used to teach Christian concepts to the Nahuas. The Spaniards’ limited understanding of the Nahuatl language hybridized the Christian religion and the Nahuatl religion. I will begin with the Spaniards’ failure to translate Christian ideas into the Nahuatl language accurately. They either created a new Nahuatl word, supplied a Spanish word, or reshaped a pre-existing concept in the Nahuatl mentality. I will analyze how the Spaniards failed to accurately and effectively translate the ideas they carried even though they developed a functional system for translating the words themselves. I will discuss how the Spaniards did not establish an orthodox Christianity, but instead created a hybrid that was born from learning Christian concepts through a lens of Nahuatl understanding, thus creating a different religious practice.
Sarah Burke is from Pound, Virginia and will graduate this May with a Bachelor's degree, majoring in French and Spanish, with a minor in German. After graduation she is taking a gap year and then applying to law school.
