Alphabetic writing played a central role in the colonization of America

In addition to warlike power and religion, European colonists used another powerful and far more subtle device to conquer America in the 16th century: alphabetic writing.

After more than 500 years, domination through this strategy of imposition still has profound effects on education in colonized countries and retains some characteristics with the current digital revolution, such as the exclusion of some groups in society from accessing new means of education.

The assessment was made by French historian Serge Gruzinski, professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences and director of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), in France, in a lecture given at the Fapesp School 60 years: Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.

The event, which began on Sunday (21) and runs until this Wednesday (24) in Itatiba, in the interior of São Paulo, brings together researchers at the beginning of their careers to attend conferences and interact with renowned specialists in their fields.

“The conquest of America was not just a military and religious enterprise. Alphabetical writing provided a decisive and essential weapon for the colonizers,” said Gruzinski, who studies the mestizo image, Mexico’s entry into modernity and, in recent years, , about Brazil and the Portuguese empire.

According to the historian, in the case of Mexico, alphabetic writing supported Spanish colonization even before formal occupation, during exploratory expeditions to discover and conquer new territories. During the conquest, each step of the colonists and the official decrees were written.

After the conquest, several documents were produced by the Spanish administration to inform about the founding of cities, appoint judges and install the first colonial city of the modern era, New Spain, founded in the 16th century, Gruzinski said.

“Alphabetical writing was essential to create and maintain links between Spain and the New World. The metropolis constantly needed more information, which was transmitted in written form to the new conquered territories. Thus, without writing it would be impossible to establish this new form of colonial power”, he evaluated.

The crucial step taken by the Spanish colonists in this process of domination by writing, however, was to establish, as soon as they arrived in Mexico, a systematic policy of literacy of indigenous elites by Catholic religious of the Franciscan order.

“In 1530, religious began to teach the children of Mexico’s indigenous elites to read and write in Latin. Gradually, in different regions of the country, boarding schools were opened in which the Indians received a Christian education,” said Gruzinski.

This strategy of assimilation of Spanish writing by the indigenous natives through religion allowed them to cooperate with the colonizers, said the French historian.

“Spanish colonial authorities could not control the land without the support and help of the Indians. Alphabetical writing was essential for this”, he underlined.

From the 1540s onwards, a new indigenous elite emerged in Mexico, which began to become notable for its intellectual achievements, as it appropriated the act of reading and writing in the imposed language. During this period, printed books began to circulate in the country written by Indians in collaboration with the Franciscans.

“They collaborated with the Franciscans not only in the field of religion, but also in other domains, such as philosophy,” Gruzinski said.

In the 17th century, these indigenous elites disappeared as they became completely Hispanized. Their descendants have more recently begun to recover their original writing through records of history and the description of the territories they occupied. These records have been used as legal documents to demand reparations, the historian said. “These descendants appropriated the writing of their ancestors to create land titles and ways to protect their memories,” he said.

global phenomenon

In Gruzinski’s assessment, the alphabetic revolution was a global phenomenon and created a division in the colonial world between people who had the opportunity to learn to read and write and those who did not.

“This has resulted in a large number of illiterate people, mainly black and indigenous, especially in Latin American countries”, he evaluated.

This problem has been exacerbated in recent years with the advent of the digital revolution, he said.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of students – mainly the poorest – were unable to access online education, exemplified the historian.

multiple celebrations

At the opening of the event, held on Sunday, Marco Antonio Zago, president of Fapesp, recalled that the School is being held at a special moment, in which the 100th anniversary of the Modern Art Week, the 200th anniversary of Independence and the 60th anniversary of years of FAPESP.

“These events are — and should continue to be — the subject of much academic interest, because the impact and role they have in our history need to be very well evaluated in the light of what is happening today”, evaluated Zago.

The director stressed the importance of researchers participating in the event to communicate with colleagues from other areas, such as natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and health sciences.

“This is an attitude that is becoming increasingly necessary in our world. We cannot allow young people to persist in the tradition of looking at the natural sciences, mathematics and others as worlds apart,” he said.

For Luiz Eugênio Mello, scientific director of Fapesp, “it is a pleasure to promote an event with the participation of young scientists, who are in a stage of training in which they delve into certain issues and, on the other hand, it is still possible to have a comprehensive largest of its research objects”.

According to Ronaldo Pilli, vice president of Fapesp, the central idea of ​​the event is to offer future leaders in studies in the areas of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts the opportunity to learn about the careers and areas of work of renowned researchers in the world.

“The meeting represents an opportunity for participants to learn about the trajectory of these researchers, the difficulties they had to establish themselves, the rewards they achieved throughout their careers and what skills a generation like theirs, which is now starting a trajectory independent, must have to achieve success. Certainly, the choice of research topic is something central”, he evaluated.