Heterogeneidad y traducción cultural de la materia médica de Nueva España (segunda mitad del siglo XVI)

Abstract

The following article studies the cultural translations of medicinal herbs produced in New Spain between 1552 and 1591. Through the study of a corpus of manuscripts and medical printings, and the place they gave to the denomination and classification of the territory’s “medical material,” that coexisted with Hispanic and indigenous traditions. In general terms, the key role translations played in the appropriation of local medical knowledge is posited when translating and formalizing the knowledge of medicinal herbs. In specific terms, it confirms the ethnocentric tendency of European medical knowledge to attempt to marginalize the knowledge of indigenous informants, as well as the heterogenous and disparate character of the process. Hence the adaptations of the works’ textual typologies are detailed as well as the mediations and negotiations that the actors involved in their elaboration unfolded.