Nahuatl Intellectuals - New book by Kelly McDonough

I just stumbled on this book on google books and read through as much as the snippets would let me. Kelly McDonough's "The Learned Ones: Nahua Intellectuals in Postconquest Mexico" is a fascinating account of several Nahua intellectuals from the colonial and postcolonial period such as the grammarian Antonio del Rincon (who was the first to mark the Nahuatl glottal stop and long vowels), Faustino Chimalpopoca who recorded Nahuatl oral tradition and supported the liberal French intervention of Maximilian perhaps because he sensed that he might be so able to make a difference for the native people. McDonough juxtaposes her accounts of historical Nahua intellectuals with portraits and short texts by contemporary Nahua intellectuals, particularly those working in the IDIEZ project. This makes for a very nice argument that Nahua intellectual tradition is alive and well, and that important work continues to be produced by Nahuan scholars today. When I get my hands on the actual book I'll write a full review.


Meanwhile, here is McDonough's own presentation of her book.