Beyond Cortés and Montezuma

Beyond Cortés and Montezumaexamines both European and Nahuatl texts and images that shed light on the complex narrative of contactand the ensuing conflict, negotiation, and cooperation that continued well after the colonial period. Adiverse group of scholars from Europe, Mexico, and the US with varied methodological backgrounds-linguistics, history, art history, and cultural studies-query the "conquest,"or ratherconquista,of Mexicothrough a series of case studies that interrogate how historians, especially in Europe, Mexico, and the US, understand and interact with this concept. Theyconsider the language used to encapsulate the event in Nahuatl documents from the colonial period, how the Spanish veterans led the transition to settlement in taking land for themselves, and the legacy of theconquistain discrimination against Tlaxcallans in modern Mexico. Beyond Cortés and Montezumais a compilation of nuanced reflections on the language, narratives, and memories of theconquistathat balances the crimes of Spanish colonialism and asymmetries of power that existed within early New Spain with the abilities of Native peoples to resist, negotiate, and survive.