González de Eslava’s Christian Allegory of the Gran Chichimeca:
Reimagining the Ancestral North in New Spain

The Fifth Spiritual and Sacramental Colloquy of Fernán González de Eslava is a Christian allegorical drama set in New Spain of the 1570s. This play about Spanish attempts to fortify the northern frontier incorporates striking elements of indigenous lore. Stephanie Schmidt (Romance Languages and Literatures) notes that the play invokes northern Chichimec warriors of Eslava’s day who maintained an ongoing resistance against Spanish incursions, while engaging symbolically the legendary Chichimec ancestor of Nahua histories. Thus, Eslava reproduces key features of an indigenous foundational narrative about the North as a place of origin for various peoples of the Mexican Basin, yet he revises this narrative, asserting Christianizing, colonizing claims.

The New Faculty Seminar Series is a brown bag lunch event. Coffee and cookies will be provided.