Fallen cities. destruction and a world in ruins in relación de texcoco by juan bautista pomar (1582)

Abstract

Novohispanic mestizo chronicles are characterized by their depiction of the origin, the past and the customs of their main towns and of the issues related to the conquest and evangelization of Mexico. Nevertheless, through a discourse tinged by the Christian rhetoric of the fall of Jerusalem, these chronicles also portray the ruins from which that new order emerged in an apparently harmonious way. In this paper I set out to highlight the themes of destruction and the world in ruins that underlie the subtle dissident criticism in the NovoHispanic mestizo chronicles. In order to do so, I give examples taken from Relación de Texcoco (1582) by Juan Bautista Pomar, an especially significant text because of its complex and shifting locus of enunciation, an element which is always present in mestizo chronicles.