Studies of Race - Mexican Americans and the Question of Race. By Julie A. Dowling . Austin: University of Texas Press, 2014. Pp. 184. $55.00 cloth.

Abstract

For Cortés, Díaz, and other writers of the Spanish conquest of Central Mexico, cannibalism became a way to articulate a superior Spanish masculinity in contrast to the Mexica. The Spanish imperial project was aimed at incorporating Indian labor and extending Spanish masculine control of female Indian bodies, and "accusations of cannibalism both justified the conquest and helped to establish the gendered order of Spanish imperialism" (118). Moving from the tight focus of the first three chapters to the Jesuits of New France, Watson finds cannibalism equally a vital sign of savagery and a crucial element of masculinity. In place of the Spanish masculinity of conquest, Jesuits' understanding of suffering and martyrdom made them envision cannibalism in different ways: on the one hand, it was an indication to potential supporters in France of the importance of their work, and, on the other, it presented an opportunity to experience martyrdom for their faith.