Into the Archive

Writing and Power in Colonial Peru

Nonfiction, History, Americas, South America, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Into the Archive by Kathryn Burns, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Kathryn Burns ISBN: 9780822393450
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: September 27, 2010
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Kathryn Burns
ISBN: 9780822393450
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: September 27, 2010
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Writing has long been linked to power. For early modern people on both sides of the Atlantic, writing was also the province of notaries, men trained to cast other people’s words in official forms and make them legally true. Thus the first thing Columbus did on American shores in October 1492 was have a notary record his claim of territorial possession. It was the written, notarial word—backed by all the power of Castilian enforcement—that first constituted Spanish American empire. Even so, the Spaniards who invaded America in 1492 were not fond of their notaries, who had a dismal reputation for falsehood and greed. Yet Spaniards could not do without these men. Contemporary scholars also rely on the vast paper trail left by notaries to make sense of the Latin American past. How then to approach the question of notarial truth?

Kathryn Burns argues that the archive itself must be historicized. Using the case of colonial Cuzco, she examines the practices that shaped document-making. Notaries were businessmen, selling clients a product that conformed to local “custom” as well as Spanish templates. Clients, for their part, were knowledgeable consumers, with strategies of their own for getting what they wanted. In this inside story of the early modern archive, Burns offers a wealth of possibilities for seeing sources in fresh perspective.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Writing has long been linked to power. For early modern people on both sides of the Atlantic, writing was also the province of notaries, men trained to cast other people’s words in official forms and make them legally true. Thus the first thing Columbus did on American shores in October 1492 was have a notary record his claim of territorial possession. It was the written, notarial word—backed by all the power of Castilian enforcement—that first constituted Spanish American empire. Even so, the Spaniards who invaded America in 1492 were not fond of their notaries, who had a dismal reputation for falsehood and greed. Yet Spaniards could not do without these men. Contemporary scholars also rely on the vast paper trail left by notaries to make sense of the Latin American past. How then to approach the question of notarial truth?

Kathryn Burns argues that the archive itself must be historicized. Using the case of colonial Cuzco, she examines the practices that shaped document-making. Notaries were businessmen, selling clients a product that conformed to local “custom” as well as Spanish templates. Clients, for their part, were knowledgeable consumers, with strategies of their own for getting what they wanted. In this inside story of the early modern archive, Burns offers a wealth of possibilities for seeing sources in fresh perspective.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Barbie's Queer Accessories by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Cumbia! by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book The Beneficiary by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book This Was Not Our War by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Cooking Data by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Writing in Dante's Cult of Truth by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Art for an Undivided Earth by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Bhangra and Asian Underground by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Embodying the Sacred by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book New Languages of the State by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Healthy Markets? by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Protecting American Health Care Consumers by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book The Already Dead by Kathryn Burns
Cover of the book Junot Díaz and the Decolonial Imagination by Kathryn Burns
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy