Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Blog #12: Cross Cultural Mishap


Obviously there were many reasons why the Spaniards were inevitably successful in their domination over the Aztecs: technological advantage, immunity to illnesses they brought over, desire to obtain their riches. Todorov brings up an interesting point when suggesting that another way the Spaniards dominated the Aztecs was “by means of signs”. There are a two different ways one could immediately interpret this statement. One, the Spaniards manipulated the Aztecs trust in signs to their advantage. Two, the Spaniards were aided in their conquest, unbeknownst to them, because of the Aztecs use of signs. Both interpretations could also have worked in tandem to produce another contributing factor in the Spaniards victory over the Aztecs.

As far as the first interpretation, it is fair to say that the Spaniards did manipulate the Aztecs trust in signs to their advantage. The Aztec culture embraces the use of signs as part of their everyday life and how to live. A key part of this was their specific type of religious faith. The Aztecs had idols set up for religious purposes and as a tool of manipulation, the Spaniards desecrated it, “Cortés tells the story: “The most important of these idols and the ones in which they have most faith I had taken from their places and thrown down the steps… I had images of Our Lady and of other saints put there” (60). Clearly, from this short description, there is no denying that the Spaniards did use the Aztecs faith and trust in signs and symbols to help destroy them.

It is also fair to say that the Spaniards unknowingly were aided by the Aztecs use of signs. The Aztec culture embraces the use of signs and looking to the past to predict the future. With the arrival of a completely new group of people, the Spaniards, the Aztecs didn’t know what to do. “We see how reluctant Montezuma is to admit that an entirely new event can occur, and that what the ancestors have not already known might come to pass” (86). As Todorov states, this lack of knowing what to do on Montezuma’s part is a key component of lack of engagement with the Spaniards. This in turn lead to the Spaniards assuming that either Montezuma is a terrible leader who refuses to acknowledge them or he is a proud leader who is utilizing his silence as a tool. Either way, Montezuma’s lack of engagement with the Spaniards was a negative in the end.

Overall however, I think that what really helped allow the Spaniards to conquer the Aztecs was the simple lack of cross-cultural understanding. The two groups were so completely different, from communicating in different fashions to having totally different calendars. Without the effort put forth to understand one anther, while I do understand that wasn’t the Spaniards main goal upon arriving in the Americas, disastrous events arose. These massive differences in culture allowed the Spaniards to easily regard the Aztecs as a different form of human, something perhaps less than human. Upon dehumanizing a group, it becomes easier to destroy their towns, homes, families and lives. We see this time and time again and it only continues. Perhaps hostile take over is really the new way of saying conquest...

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