Keen's Latin American Civilization, Volume 1

The tenth edition of Keen's Latin American Civilization inaugurates a new era in the history of this classic anthology by dividing it into two volumes. This first volume retains most of the colonial period sources from the ninth edition but with some significant additions including two new sets of images (representations of Brazilian cannibals and 'casta paintings' of mixed race families), an alternative conquest narrative, two new readings on imperial governance, and three new readings on gender and sexuality, including selections from the autobiography of a Spanish nun who took on a male persona to fight as a soldier in the American colonies. The 88 excerpts in volume one provide foundational and often riveting first-hand accounts of life in colonial Latin America. Concise introductions for chapters and excerpts provide essential context for understanding the primary sources.
This classic anthology provides essential primary text-based and visual documents, contextualized by editorial introductions and essays.
"This collection of documents provides an exciting mosaic of ideas and images from the Latin American colonial past. It provides readers the opportunity to look at the processes of conquest and colonization from a wide variety of vantage points. Primary sources cover socioeconomic and political aspects of pre-Columbian and colonial societies as well as religion, race relations, gender and sexuality, art, honor, and everyday life. Written documents are complemented with lively images and paintings. While the focus is on Mexico and the Andes, the peripheral areas of the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese domain of Brazil are also well represented. This thematic richness is matched by the multiplicity of voices. European conquerors and native peoples, intellectuals, government officials, travelers, scientists, and members of the Catholic Church, men and women, in sum, people from very different walks of life, are heard throughout these pages. The introductory pieces and headnotes are clear and precise. It is hard to think of a more comprehensive and sophisticated teaching tool for survey courses on colonial Lain America.
--Sergio Serulnikov, Universidad de San Andres / CONICET
This collection of documents provides an exciting mosaic of ideas and images from the Latin American colonial past. It provides readers the opportunity to look at the processes of conquest and colonization from a wide variety of vantage points. Primary sources cover socioeconomic and political aspects of pre-Columbian and colonial societies as well as religion, race relations, gender and sexuality, art, honor, and everyday life. Written documents are complemented with lively images and paintings. While the focus is on Mexico and the Andes, the peripheral areas of the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese domain of Brazil are also well represented. This thematic richness is matched by the multiplicity of voices. European conquerors and native peoples, intellectuals, government officials, travelers, scientists, and members of the Catholic Church, men and women, in sum, people from very different walks of life, are heard throughout these pages. The introductory pieces and headnotes are clear and precise. It is hard to think of a more comprehensive and sophisticated teaching tool for survey courses on colonial Lain America.
Sergio Serulnikov, Universidad de San Andres / CONICET"