To think modernity/coloniality in Guaraní (XVI-XVIII)

Abstract

Amerindian general languages were modern/colonial languages through which modern/colonial guaraní subjects were forged and expressed. Early transcriptions of political speeches in tupí-guaraní made by missionaries (XVI-XVII centuries), as well as letters written by indigenous mission authorities (XVIII-XIX centuries), allow for analysing their vocabularies, plots, and styles. Although the words are the same, their significance effects and their translation equivalences varied regarding texts and contexts. Even if arguments (ratio) changed, several traditional verbal arts (oratio) were reinvented in colonial contexts. Within missions, indigenous political authorities, familiarized with catholic and royal arguments and vocabularies, developed their oral and written eloquence in Cabildos (spaces dedicated to politics), while Jesuits incorporated some of the formal tupí-guaraní verbal arts features in their sermons.