Nahuatl Studies and the "Circle" of Horacio Carochi

Resumen

In the seventeenth century in New Spain there was an extensive literary culture which developed around figures such as don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. In addition to these famous individuals, there were other literary circles which focused not on Spanish letters, but on the study of the Aztec language, Nahuatl. The circle which developed around P. Horacio Carochi, S. J., was by far the most important of these for the development of the professional study of Nahuatl. This group of scholars provide dimportant groundwork for later students of the language. Moreover, they also contributed to a dramatic change in orientation of works written in Nahuatl. This paper will take a look at Carochi and his circle and their impact on the study of Nahuatl.