Autor(es): Marcela Dávalos
Resumen:
Abstract: The Indian Court (Juzgado de Indios) was a privileged place that considered not only literate, but also illiterate subjects as well. It was an agency erudite by axiom where “practices observed” prevailed and for the abundant documents stored there, as well as because there indigenous people responded repeatedly they did not sign a statement “for not knowing how to write.” Judges, notaries and Indians coincided at the Court and although their statements came from different sources— oral communication and in print—both involved sharing the Court’s own language. Both were members of a same means of rationalization, a communication system that shaped their dialogues— face-to-face or unit-holders of primary orality—although it had arisen from a specific time and place. Even if everyone came from different cultural codes, the annotations or statements came from a society that from the start declared its rationality. While scribes and judges formed a legal culture dating back to medieval Spain based on dispute resolution following the guidelines of a specialized bibliography, indigenous people came from an ancient tradition that had assimilated many of the Spanish means of negotiation. However, beyond the practices that distinguished one from the other, both literate and illiterate subjects began to share a single communication system.