IIIF for Educators

As an Aztec specialist, I argue for a broader, more encompassing definition of writing, one that embraces nonverbal systems. Several of my colleagues, people whom I respect and whose opinions I trust, ask me why we need to do this, when such a broadening blurs the important distinction between phonetic writing and other forms. It is because the word "writing" is so loaded. Writing is not merely a type of notational system but an entire cultural category. It has been used to distinguish literate people from preliterates, people with history from those without, and even civilized people from barbarians or primitives. Writing, as a "cornerstone of the human heritage," to quote Schoville and Senner, is seen as a basic clement of civilized society. Gelb represents this prevalent position when he states, "Writing exists only in a civilization and a civilization cannot exist without writing." Given these meanings, how can we deny that the Aztecs and Mixtecs had writing?

Boone recognizes, in other words, that writing can take many forms and communicate information through various channels, or modalities both visual and verbal.  

🖥️ Activity

For this lab activity, we will read, view, and consider Boone's scholarly argument about the nature of pictographic communication as form of writing that does not necessarily involve verbal speech as a modality. Following her examples in a video-recorded lecture, we will closely inspect several Mesoamerican codices. Then we will apply her "readings" to illustrated pages of the Florentine Codex to speculate on whether, and/or to what degree, imagery in that document communicates pictographic meanings in addition to its ostensive function of naturalistic visual depiction of people, places, animals, things, and events. We will look for examples of the three writing techniques discussed by Boone that are used in the Florentine Codex: direct depiction; ideograms; and phonetic referents (glyphs), and we will browse other select materials to find examples for comparison.

👓 View

🧱 Materials

🪜 Steps

Step 1
Read and view Boone  (click to open and close)

1. READ: H. Boone (2000). “Writing in Images.” Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. Austin: University of Texas Press, 31-38. Read part of the Intro (p. 31 bottom "Mexican Pictography- p. 38). The rest of this lengthily chapter is simply to provide you with visual reference material for Aztec pictorial conventions of writing!
2. VIEW: H. Boone. "Spatial Grammars..." on YouTube, embedded above

Step 2
Search for examples of the three techniques used in Mesoamerican pictorial writing (direct depiction, ideograms, and phonetic referents) in the Florentine Codex and other items in the Mixtape teaching collection  (click to open and close)

1. Florentine Codex: use either the DFC or the volumes of the Florentine Codex viewed in Mirador within Mixtape
2. Other materials: click the Mirador icon below any item to view and browse for examples

Mirador Viewer
Use this tool to compare items   (click to open and close)

1. 1. For comparative viewing of 2 or more items, check the selection box for each, and click the Mirador icon in the upper left corner
   2. Item windows can be dragged into different configurations using their header bar
   3. Zoom in and out, click through pages

Step 3
Crop image details of images in the Florentine Codex that provide examples of the three techniques used in Mesoamerican pictorial writing (direct depiction, ideograms, and phonetic referents) for comparative study  (click to open and close)

IIIF Cropping Tool
Use this tool to select details for sharing  (click to open and close)

1. 1. Click the crop icon at the bottom of any single item in Materials, or check boxes for multiple items and click the Cropping Tool icon in the upper left corner
   2. Zoom and view the item 
   3. To crop a detail from the image, click the white pencil icon, and highlight the desired portion by clicking and dragging a rectangle from corner to corner
   4. A thumbnail of your selected detail will appear in a slider at the bottom of the Cropping Tool. You can repeat to collect multiple details.
   5. Click the copy icon on any detail thumbnail you would like to share in the discussion post

Step 4
Share selections  (click to open and close)

• Click Reply
• Paste your image details
• Comment 

✉️ Share

Paste 3-6 examples that you selected and cropped of the three writing techniques discussed by Boone that are used in the Florentine Codex: direct depiction; ideograms; and phonetic referents (glyphs). You must have at least one each for the Florentine Codex, and you should try to find examples from other items for comparison and illustrated discussion

🤝 Collaborate

After you post your reply, review all posts by your peers to see the examples they share. Leave a comment on at least one, with reference to your own: how clearly do the illustrations exemplify the type, and are there ambiguities worth noting?