From castilian to nahuatl, or from nahuatl to castilian? Reflections and doubts about legal translation in the writings of judge Alonso de Zorita (1512–1585?)

Abstract

This article examines the reflections on legal translation set out in two Relaciones written by the 16th century Spanish jurist Alonso de Zorita. These serve as excellent illustrations for the creative dimension motivating several of the proposals for the adaptation of Castilian law to native legal custom in the Americas. My analysis focuses on some of the linguistic issues implied by Zorita’s proposal for the restoration of an idealized pre-Hispanic polity: the use of the native pictorial legal sources, and it considers some of the issues and dilemmas related to their proper interpretation and translation.