Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the indigenous concepts of dance in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest. We use the Viveiros de Castro's notion of the "controlled equivocation" to study the earliest colonial manuscripts related to pre-Columbian dance.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the indigenous concepts of dance in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest.

From the Western point of view we usually look for the similarity between two things. However, way back any Europeans had settled in Ancient Mexico, the native inhabitants had their own conceptual ideas about the body and the dance. Therefore, if our logical assumptions don't resemble at all and we can't use an analogy, how can we investigate the ritual corporal behavior as it was more than 500 years ago. Before entering into any analysis of the movement in pre-Columbian Mexico, we have to find what kind of methodological tools we can use to study the earliest colonial manuscripts related to pre-Columbian dance.

There is a big gap in knowledge regarding the comparison challenges that the historians face when they investigate distant past and cultures. On the other hand, in the last few decades there has been a growing interest in that problem among anthropologists. The most interesting approach to this issue has been proposed by Viveiros de Castro's recent reflections on translation and equivocation. As reported by the Brazilian anthropologist, the misunderstandings between our culture and the native one are not a failure in comprehension, but rather recognition of the differences in our ontological backgrounds.

This paper aims to explore the changes in perspective that emerge from using Viveiros de Castro's notion of the "controlled equivocation" for the native's concept of dance in Ancient Mexico.