Tongues of Fire
Language and Evangelization in Colonial Mexico
Nancy Farriss
Reviews and Awards
"Tongues of Fire will be an enduring contribution to the history of indigenous Christianity and indigenous languages." - Sergio Romero, Rezensionen
"A subtle treatment of intercultural communication in early and mid-colonial Oaxaca that will also illuminate wider discussions of New Spain, colonial Spanish America and beyond. The simultaneity of evangelization in indigenous languages and broader processes of Hispanicization is explored, illuminating both the miracle and the impossibility of 'translating' core Christian beliefs and practices in new settings." - Kenneth Mills, J. Frederick Hoffmann Professor of History, University of Michigan
"Farriss's new book offers an extraordinary history of communication as it unfolded between European Christians and a Mexican indigenous culture, covering every aspect of the process —from the earliest gestures to the textbooks that were written to the subtle changes that eventually occurred in the mindsets of both Zapotecs and Spaniards. This is a work that scholars of early Mexico must read if they have any interest in religion or language contact or indigenous cultures-and who these days could fail to take an interest in at least one of those?!" - Camilla Townsend, author of Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive
"In this rich and deeply researched book Nancy Farriss makes a major contribution to the historical analysis of colonial Mexico. Drawing on decades of research on Oaxaca, the Valley of Mexico and Yucatan, this work is both broad in scope and tightly focused on the intersection of language and Christian evangelization. Highly readable and erudite, this book would make the core of a superb seminar and it merits close reading by all who work on colonial history of the Americas." - William Hanks, author of Converting Words: Maya in the Age of the Cross
