The Learned Ones: Nahua Intellectuals in Postconquest Mexico

Kelly S. McDonough gives sustained attention to the complex nature of Nahua intellectualism and writing from the colonial period through the present day. The Learned Ones describes the experience of reading historic text with native speakers today, some encountering Nahua intellectuals and their writing for the very first time. It intertwines the written word with oral traditions and embodied knowledge, aiming to retie the strand of alphabetic writing to the dynamic trajectory of Nahua intellectual work. This collaborative ethnography shows the heterogeneity of Nahua knowledge and writing, as well as indigenous experiences in Mexico.