During the early Colonial period, Native writers, working under the aegis of mendicant friars, composed Christian texts in the Nahuatl language as part of the Roman Catholic Church's efforts to indoctrinate the Indigenous population of New Spain. Yet these Native “ghost-writers” were far from passive participants in the translation of Christianity. Numerous studies since the 1980s have demonstrated how Native writers exerted influence on the presentation of Christianity, in effect “indigenizing” the message and allowing for the persistence of essential elements of the Mesoamerican worldview. This article focuses on descriptions of demons and sinners drawn from Nahuatl-Christian texts and argues that Native writers drew on an ancient Mesoamerican repertoire of imagery involving physical deformity and transgressive behavior (the “monster-clown complex”). In pre-contact times, such imagery was associated with specific figures, including Olmec dwarfs, Maya “fat men,” and comic performers attached to the Mexica royal court. In each of these figures, both physical deformity and humor rendered them powerful, liminal beings often referred to as ritual clowns. By drawing upon this “monster-clown complex,” Native writers transformed what were intended to be terrifying motivators of conversion into something very different: morally neutral, supernaturally powerful, and ultimately essential members of the Mesoamerican sacred realm.

在早期殖民时期，土著作家在乞丐修士的庇护下工作，用纳瓦特尔语撰写基督教文本，作为罗马天主教会向新西班牙土著居民灌输思想的努力的一部分。然而，这些本土的“幽灵作家”远不是基督教翻译的被动参与者。自 1980 年代以来的大量研究表明，本土作家如何对基督教的呈现产生影响，实际上是使信息“本土化”并允许中美洲世界观的基本要素持续存在。本文侧重于从纳瓦特尔-基督教文本中对恶魔和罪人的描述，并认为土著作家借鉴了古代中美洲关于身体畸形和违法行为的意象（“怪物小丑情结”）。在接触前的时期，这些图像与特定的人物有关，包括奥尔梅克矮人、玛雅“胖子”和隶属于墨西加皇家宫廷的喜剧演员。在这些人物中的每一个中，身体畸形和幽默都使他们变得强大，通常被称为仪式小丑的阈限生物。通过利用这种“怪物-小丑情结”，本土作家将原本可怕的皈依动机转变为截然不同的东西：道德中立、超自然强大、最终成为中美洲神圣领域的重要成员。在接触前的时期，这些图像与特定的人物有关，包括奥尔梅克矮人、玛雅“胖子”和隶属于墨西加皇家宫廷的喜剧演员。在这些人物中的每一个中，身体畸形和幽默都使他们变得强大，通常被称为仪式小丑的阈限生物。通过利用这种“怪物-小丑情结”，本土作家将原本可怕的皈依动机转变为截然不同的东西：道德中立、超自然强大、最终成为中美洲神圣领域的重要成员。在接触前的时期，这些图像与特定的人物有关，包括奥尔梅克矮人、玛雅“胖子”和隶属于墨西加皇家宫廷的喜剧演员。在这些人物中的每一个中，身体畸形和幽默都使他们变得强大，通常被称为仪式小丑的阈限生物。通过利用这种“怪物-小丑情结”，本土作家将原本可怕的皈依动机转变为截然不同的东西：道德中立、超自然强大、最终成为中美洲神圣领域的重要成员。阈限生物通常被称为仪式小丑。通过利用这种“怪物-小丑情结”，本土作家将原本可怕的皈依动机转变为截然不同的东西：道德中立、超自然强大、最终成为中美洲神圣领域的重要成员。阈限生物通常被称为仪式小丑。通过利用这种“怪物-小丑情结”，本土作家将原本可怕的皈依动机转变为截然不同的东西：道德中立、超自然强大、最终成为中美洲神圣领域的重要成员。