Playfulness and humor in Nahua veintena festivals as attested in early colonial sources / El juego y el humor en las fiestas de las veintenas nahuas atestiguadas en fuentes coloniales tempranas

Abstract: The 16th and 17th century’s texts left to us by Spanish friars or acculturated indigenous and mestizo writers contain multiple descriptions of Nahua performances. Many of these were equated with Medieval and Renaissance short dramatic pieces of humorous content such as farces and interludes. However, the presence of humor and laughter on a performative level was not limited to entertainment, and their ritual dimension did not escape the attention of early-colonial authors. This paper focuses on playfulness, humor, and laughter in pre-Hispanic Nahua (mostly Mexica) cultural performances which belonged to the twenty-day-period festivals (fiestas de las veintenas). The analysis will be based on two examples: laughing gods and ritual clowns. It will take into account various means of expression: performative or ritual actions, verbal expressions, and corporeity. Subsequently, it would lead to some broader considerations concerning the function of humor and laughter among the Nahuas in socio-cultural and religious spheres.