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Removing Christ from the Cross: Performing the Deposition in Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya
Hardcover
ISBN13: 9781646429561
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: Dec 15 2026
Pages: 296
Weight: 1.00
Language: English
Employed on Good Friday, the texts provided mute actors with roles and props with which to reenact the removal of Christ from his cross, his placement into the arms of his grieving mother, and his burial--his Deposition. Through rare translations, vivid historical accounts, and rich cultural insight, the book uncovers how these ceremonies moved audiences to tears, shaped local Catholicisms, and still have the power to stir hearts today.
Such theatrical reenactments were common among Nahuas and Mayas during the colonial period only to become largely overlooked by the scholarly literature on religion. The texts examined here provide not only examples of performances but also insight into how translation altered their content and meaning. More than simply plays or sermons, these hybrid performances merged European tradition with Nahua and Maya storytelling, creating unforgettable moments of faith, grief, and beauty. Familiarized through local worldviews, concerns, preferences, and language, these texts provide additional and important insights into myriad issues including those of gender, agency, and how Christianity adapted its message of the Deposition to accommodate Indigenous audiences of different cultures. Christensen also mines the deep well of existing European literature on the subject to clearly distinguish the aspects derived from the Old World from those from the New.
The first book examining how the Aztec and Maya were taught about and engaged in the Deposition, Removing Christ from the Cross exposes the colonial origins of modern Latin American commemorations, showing the past clearly reflected in the present and making a significant contribution to the literature on the evangelization of New Spain. This is more than history--it is the rediscovery of performances that connected worlds.
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