Conference – Beyond Cortés and Moteuczoma (Yale)

In the period of 2019-2021 we will be remembering the Quincentenary of the Spanish invasion and military take-over of much of Mesoamerica. While these consequential years were once framed as the “Conquest of Mexico,” since the mid-1970s their understanding has undergone dramatic revisions. The Mexica, previously known as the Aztec, have been recognized according to the name they had for themselves. Their language, Nahuatl, has been a focus of scholarly attention for some fifty years, revealing the agency of indigenous actors. Recent works are marked by the paradigm shift, as are editions of primary sources on conquest. Several score of studies have explored the participation of hitherto ignored groups in the conflict, studying the role of native auxiliaries, women, persons of color, and even the “foot soldiers” of the expeditions. This new focus conforms to what is increasingly called the “New Conquest History”: oriented not towards the actions of a few Spanish leaders, nor celebratory of a European mission, but rather looking closely at all sides and aspects of the conflict. But now that an expansive cast of characters and archives has been identified and brought onto the stage of narrative history and art history, what’s the next act? What new historiographical models will allow scholars to move beyond recognition? And given that archives are partial, how can we address conquest-era events that exist at archival limits, like rape and enslavement? And how can this conquest illuminate other ones, including in the present moment?

This two-day conference brings together both established and emerging scholars from anthropology, literature, history and art history, to present papers that offer new approaches to the Invasion and suggest directions for future research.