Research Catalog
How did the "white" god come to Mexico? : Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl
- Title
- How did the "white" god come to Mexico? : Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl / by Stefan Heep.
- Author
- Heep, Stefan
- Publication
- Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.
- ©2019
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFD 20-942 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- xv, 138 pages : illustrations; 22 cm
- Summary
- Most American schoolbooks claim that the Aztex ruler Moctezuma II confused the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés for the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, a fabulous, fair-skinned priest king of ancient times who had promised to return, which is why Moctezuma voluntarily surrendered his mighty empire. In the past, the tale of Quetzalcoatl has inspired many people to speculate about pre-Columbian invaders from the Old World. It has also been abused as another presumed proof of white supremacy. Indigenous traditions, however, saw a Mexican Messiah who played an important part in constructing the Mexican national identity. This book demonstrates that the story of the returning god is a product of "fake news" uttered by Cortés. It does so by analysing the most important sources of the Quetzalcoatl-tale. A systematic context-enlargement that also includes ethnographic information and contemporary history reveals why and how Cortés constructed this story, and why and how the Aztec elite adopted it. This method proves to be an epistemological tool which allows researchers to identity pre-Hispanic information in ethnohistorical texts of colonial times. As a result, the true Quetzalcoatl behind the legend comes to light--back cover.
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [129]-138).
- Contents
- Introduction -- Chapter One. Hernan Cortés' Second Letter to Emperor Charles V -- Chapter Two. Doña Isabel's Petition -- Chapter Three. Leyenda de los Soles -- Chapter Four. The Animals of Cuauhtitlan -- Chapter Five. Sahagún's Historia General de la Nueva España -- Chapter Six. Comparison of the Quetzalcoatl Accounts -- Chapter Seven. Reconstruction of the pre-Hispanic Quetzalcoatl -- Chapter Eight. Discussion.
- Call Number
- JFD 20-942
- ISBN
- 9781527537170
- 152753717X
- OCLC
- 1121099004
- Author
- Heep, Stefan, author.
- Title
- How did the "white" god come to Mexico? : Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl / by Stefan Heep.
- Publisher
- Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.
- Copyright Date
- ©2019
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [129]-138).
- Chronological Term
- 1519-1540
- Research Call Number
- JFD 20-942