ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the complexities of communication in plurilinguistic and pluricultural contexts, specifically in New Spain (colonial Mexico), with a focus on two large-scale sixteenth-century data collection projects: the Florentine Codex and the relaciones geográficas. Both projects allow for a reflection on the always imperfect meaning-making processes of translating languages and cultures. Emphasis is placed on the social, political, and economic contexts in which translation and interpretation was necessary, desirable, (im)possible, (un)intelligible, or otherwise. As a methodological intervention, the long-standing attribution of authorship of both texts to Spaniards is problematized, with Indigenous contributors retranslated as co-authors.
