Medical herbs and colonial semiosis: Indigenous illustrations within two Novo-Hispanic manuscripts on American nature of the 16th century

  • Julio Ricardo Vera Castañeda
Keywords: colonial semiosis, materia medica, medicinal herbs, representation

Abstract

This article proposes a new read of the herbal put together by “Doctor” Martínde la Cruz, translated into Latin in 1552 by Juan Badiano, and the “medicaltreaty” which is part of Bernardino de Sahagún’s Florentine Codex (1577) basedon the notion of colonial semiosis. The combination of images and texts in theseartifacts and the direct participation of wisemen of Náhutl origin allow theconsideration of visual representations of medicinal herbs as statements thatretain certain autonomy, despite being included within the genres of Europeanrepresentation. This peculiarity strains the alleged subordination of visual signifiers to the imperative of alphabetical writing, making it possible toassess the presence of heterogeneous representations within the context ofMesoamerican literacy in the sixteenth century.

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Published
2019-02-10
How to Cite
Vera Castañeda, J. R. (2019). Medical herbs and colonial semiosis: Indigenous illustrations within two Novo-Hispanic manuscripts on American nature of the 16th century. Memoria Americana. Cuadernos De Etnohistoria, 27(1), 188-207. https://doi.org/10.34096/mace.v27i1.6338
Section
Convocatoria Abierta