El hedor en la Nueva España: sensibilidad olfativa ante el fenómeno de la otredad (siglo XVI)

Abstract

Objective/Context: This article aims to analyze the olfactory descriptions of blood, the Indigenous, and their idols in sacrificial narratives in four early modern American sources (sixteenth century): Letters of Relation by Hernán Cortés, The Vision of the Defeated by Miguel León Portilla, General History of the Things of New Spain by Bernardino de Sahagún, and the inquisitorial process of the cacique of Texcoco. Methodology: Cultural history as a methodology allows examining the olfactory perception of stench as part of the narration of the body and Indigenous religious rituals during the Conquest. This approach helps to identify the discourses or representations about the Indigenous in the established period and to outline an interpretative matrix that combines the analysis of cultural elements with odorant perceptions. Originality: The study’s relevance lies in analyzing how odor affects the recognition and dominance of the Indigenous society. Odorant perception reveals the plurality of olfactory sensitivities as part of social relations. In this way, we study how the stench or the olfactory disdain toward the Indigenous sacrificial practices described in the chronicles contributed to the moral and sensory classification that justified the inequality between peninsular Spaniards and Indigenous people. Conclusions: Stench and fragrance can be read as control devices that legitimize the violence of the Conquest and the various debates surrounding American bodily aesthetics.

Keywords

• americas chronicles
• conquest
• new spain
• sixteenth century
• history of senses
• smells