1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Cette thèse analyse la construction des identités autochtones dans la société urbaine de San Luis Potosí, pendant une période de quarante ans, soit de l’arrivée des Tlaxcaltèques en 1591 jusqu’en 1630.» (p. vi)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Données documentaires diverses

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

«The important presence of couples on work sites […] points to the possibility that these places could have been a basis for the construction of new and diverse forms of families […]. While the household appears as a significant component of Mesoamerican societies, Robert McCaa emphasizes the role of the cemithualtin, a Náhuatl word meaning complex family. McCaa defines the complex family as a group of people living together under the same roof, and under the authority of a family leader, generally the oldest married man of the house. The rules forming these complex families were flexible. Their members were not necessarily all tied through blood affiliation. Co-habitation could depend on political and ritual kinship.» (p. 178-179) «In most of pre-colonial Mesoamerica, couples and nuclear families were not fundamental units in the structural organization of society. [I]ndividuals came together in complex multifamily households and identified with larger lineage, although exogamy was frequent. By the end of the sixteenth century, however, this organization of indigenous societies had been transformed and marital ties between a woman and a man were becoming more important. Because of these transformations, and because most Amerindians had not migrated to San Luis Potosí in large kin groups, it is essential to pay attention to the heterosexual couple.» (p. 195)