Miguel León-Portilla (1926–2019)

It has always puzzled me that the same people who could write

Somewhere else is the place of life
There I want to go
There surely I will sing with the most beautiful birds
There I will have genuine flowers
The flowers that delight,
That bring peace to the heart.

Could also slowly skin children alive so their tears would bring rain the next season. (It’s been suggested that the skinning children alive story was invented by conquistadors to make the Aztecs seem non-human; but, alas, there is show more archaeological evidence of sad little skeletons with cut marks on the bones). Of course my own culture burned women alive for witchcraft at the same time it was producing world-class literature, music and science.

At any rate, this book collects the Aztec, Mayan, and other native literature that survived burning by missionaries (it should be noted that one Franciscan, Bernardino de Sahagún, put considerable effort into collecting surviving manuscripts and talking down stories narrated by natives). This collection includes myths, hymns, lyric poetry (as in the example above), drama, history, and other writings. Although it’s fairly old (1969), it’s not likely too much has changed.

An easy read, despite the strangeness of some of the subject matter. Extensive footnotes and bibliography. A few illustrations of pages from codices. show less

Pacheco decía de la Visión de los vencidos que es un libro "indispensable para todos los mexicanos". Viéndolo de una forma más objetiva, sin patrioterismos, yo diría que es un libro muy parcial. Siento que Portilla da su opinión y su interpretación de los textos en demasiadas ocasiones, y no sé qué tanto creerle a veces. Eso sí, el libro es precioso, las traducciones (muchas de ellas hechas por el maestro A. M. Garibay) son excelentes y los textos son muy bellos por sí mismos. show more Pero de vez en cuando deseé estar leyendo a Sahagún y a sus secuaces directamente en vez de leerlo filtrado por la Visión de Portilla.
Además, debemos tomar en cuenta al leer este libro de que los mexicas no eran unas inocentes palomitas. Portilla pinta a los mesoamericanos como víctimas del europeo, siendo que el imperio mexica era déspota y sanguinario, la conquista nunca hubiera sido posible sin los pueblos no mexicas que se aliaron con los españoles con la esperanza de liberarse del cacicazgo tenochca.
En fin, es un buen libro para introducirse al fenómeno de la conquista, pero no recomendaría que fuera el definitivo para el verdaderamente interesado en el tema. show less

Read this for fun; I have quite a bit of interest in Southwest American/Mexican history. Definitely an intriguing book.

Using texts translated from their original Nahuatl into Spanish and then into English The Broken Spears tells the tale of the Spanish conquest of Aztec Mexico from the perspective of the Aztec people. Similarly, the book uses illustrations (of maps, people, and events) adapted from Aztec codices as access features. Similarly, the book incorporates easily accessible footnotes throughout. I found these notes and the images very useful, as I have very little experience traveling in Latin show more America and even less experience studying the history of the Aztec people. These notes and illustrations are made easy-to-use research tools, too, as the book contains a hefty index, bibliography, and tables of contents (one for chapters and one for illustrations).
Further easing the book's use, the beginning of the book contains a section of translator's note. However, this note very clearly seeks to present the book as an introductory level book, not a book for the scholar. The note admits that some liberties are taken in translating from language to language in an effort to ease linguistic incongruities, assumedly born of multiple translations.

Organizationally, the book moves chronologically, moving from pre-Columbian omens, to raids, and ultimately to conquest and its aftermath.

As the translator's note implies, the tone of the book is scattered as a result of the dynamic wealth of sources inlayed in the book, but the author makes an effort to create a cohesive narrative.

Rather than this book serving as an explanation of events, it serves as a wonderful narrative demonstrating an often ignored perspective. show less