IN villages and towns across Spain and its former New World
colonies, local performers stage mock battles between Spanish
Christians and Moors or Aztecs that range from brief sword dances
to massive street theatre lasting several days. The performances
officially celebrate the triumph of Spanish Catholicism over its
enemies. Such an explanation does not, however, account for the
tradition's persistence for more than five hundred years nor for
its widespread diffusion.
In this perceptive book, Max Harris seeks to understand the
"puzzling and enduring passion" of both Mexicans and Spaniards for
festivals of moros y cristianos. He begins by tracing the
performances' roots in medieval Spain and showing how they came to
be superimposed on the mock battles that had been part of
pre-contact Aztec calendar rituals. Then, using James Scott's
distinction between "public transcripts" and "hidden transcripts",
he reveals how, in the hands of folk and indigenous performers,
these spectacles of conquest became prophecies of the eventual
reconquest of Mexico by the defeated Aztec peoples. Finally, he
documents the early arrival of native American performance
practices in Europe and the shift of moros y cristianos from court
to folk tradition in Spain. Even today, as lively descriptions of
current festivals make plain, mock battles between Aztecs, Moors,
and Christians remain a remarkably sophisticated vehicle for the
communal expression of dissent.
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