The motivated use of language: writing and orality in the rituals of toma de posesión. The case of colonial Latin America
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/2179-0892.ra.2016.124285Keywords:
Toma de posesión, Languaje, Writing, Ritual, Colonial Latin AmericaAbstract
The act of toma de posesión defines an instance of transformation in which verbal statements, rituals actions and written texts are combined to produce and legitimate the concession of a public charge or the transfer of a property. It establishes by these means a new status for the subject involved. This article proposes an ethnographic approach to the study of the performative dimension of language and the uses of orality and writing, for understanding where lies the efficacy of such practice. By exploring documentation elaborated by Latin America colonial government institutions, three different cases of tomas de posesión are examined: a possession of land, a public charge and an encomienda de indios. The approach to this problem includes a reflection about the capacity of written materials to describe and to create the social world we intend to understandDownloads
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