Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico by Amber Brian (review)

AMBER BRIAN'S Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico sheds new light on the collaborative relationship between Native and creole scholars in the seventeenth century. Brian grounds her investigation in the archival collection of mestizo historian don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl and its role within don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora's broader holdings. Tracing not only the intellectual connectivity between the two men but also their personal bond, Brian conducts an in-depth inquiry into the relationship that developed between Sigüenza and Alva Ixtlilxochitl. Ultimately, Brian rejects previously held notions of separate Native and creole intellectual spheres to assert a more intertwined and complex "economy of letters" (10).

Brian's argument analyzes the evolving role of don Fernando's intellectual corpus throughout the seventeenth century as it transitioned from Alva Ixtlilxochitl's possession into Sigüenza's archival collection. Capitalizing on the recent return of Alva Ixtlilxochitl's collection to Mexico City in 2014, Brian aptly and consistently inserts her investigation into contemporary archival debates. While Brian evaluates the works of both Alva Ixtlilxochitl and Sigüenza to demonstrate the substantial collaboration between the two elites, she focuses primarily on the web of social and emotional connections between both families. Brian thus analyzes the relationship between these two particular men to demonstrate the collaborative atmosphere among Native and creole scholars that undergirded intellectual production in colonial Mexico.

Brian organizes her argument along thematic lines in a way that complements both the comparative nature of her investigation and the chronological movement of Alva Ixtlilxochitl's collection. Brian begins with the most apparent connection between the two men by offering a detailed analysis of Alva Ixtlilxochitl's sources and their subsequent role in Sigüenza's writings. She then ventures into the more implicit connections between the two men by investigating Sigüenza's role in Alva Ixtlilxochitl's familial affairs. The second half of the book evaluates the hybridity found in the two men's methodological processes. Just as Alva Ixtlilxochitl's writings demonstrated a clear incorporation of Hispanic training, Sigüenza's publications reflected an obvious appreciation of Native documents as legitimate sources. By highlighting the significance of Native sources to both men, Brian challenges previous understandings of seventeenth-century intellectual discourse as a purely creole institution.

While Brian's source base relies heavily on Alva Ixtlilxochitl's and Sigüenza's writings, she incorporates relevant seventeenth-century publications to create a more holistic understanding of the broader intellectual currents of the time. In addition to her historical source base, Brian relies on a strong theoretical framework composed of hallmark theorists, as well as contemporaries in her field. Such references clearly situate Brian's argument within the existing historiography and underscore the very intellectual connectivity she highlights in her analysis.

Amber Brian's investigation maintains an accessible narrative style that allows both academic and nonacademic audiences to follow the complex journey of Alva Ixtlilxochitl's archival papers. While Brian primarily seeks to clarify the intellectual environment of seventeenth-century Mexico, she also consistently relates her argument to current archival debates. In doing so, Brian ties questions of colonial intellectual partnership to modern academic collaboration and the repatriation of historical sources.