Why read Aztecs on Stage?

Book cover of Aztecs on Stage: Religious Theater in Colonial Mexico

Book description

Nahuatl drama, one of the most surprising results of the Catholic presence in colonial Mexico, merges medieval European religious theater with the language and performance traditions of the Aztec (Nahua) people of central Mexico. Franciscan missionaries, seeking effective tools for evangelization, fostered this new form of theater after observing the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Aztecs on Stage as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Camilla Townsend

Author

Many Aztecs studied with Franciscan friars. Later, they helped the friars write books about Christianity and compose plays for their people to present on holidays.

They took European ideas and reinterpreted them for a Native audience. For instance, Hephaistos, a Greek god who was a bit of a loser, is given the name Tizoc, a former Aztec emperor who was also a bit of a loser. It is fascinating to watch people digesting a whole new way of thinking.

Best of all, some of the plays were meant to be funny!

From Camilla's list on the Aztecs by people who once knew an Aztec.