Mnemonic method of bilingual evangelization in the Doctrina christiana en la lengua guasteca con la lengua castellana of 1571

Abstract

This article proposes the study of the mnemonic method of bilingual evangelization registered in the Doctrina christiana en la lengua guasteca con la lengua castellana of the order of the Augustinians published in 1571, with the aim of deepening bilingualism as a strategy for religious to streamline the evangelization process in New Spain. The methodology starts from the material analysis, the semiotics of the image and the bibliography to analyze fifteen xylographic engravings present in said doctrine, which were designed according to a medieval didactic model, with the innovation that in the case studied here it is the registration of two languages
that coexisted during the 16th century: Spanish and Huastec. The main focus of this article is the image as the foundation of the didactics of teaching Christian doctrine, with a bilingual mnemonic method that allowed Native Americans to memorize the principles of the Catholic faith in their own language.