Recontextualising the Sacraments: Diego González Holguínʼs Construction of Christian Vocabulary in Colonial Peru

Abstract

In 1608 the Jesuit missionary-linguist Diego González Holguín published a comprehensive Spanish-Quechua dictionary, which covered all aspects of life and also included a wide range of words which refer to Christian and Andean beliefs. Although he situated himself in a by then established Christian Andean tradition of the translation of religious concepts, he also used innovative translation methods, reinterpreting Andean and Christian words in an unorthodox way. Through the analysis of his translation methods light can be shed on the process in which religions are constructed. For this I will examine the translations of the term ʻsacrament’. Whilst the word itself is transmitted into Quechua as a loanword, in more detailed explanations the author uses extensions of meanings and metaphorical expressions. Thus, for example, a certain aspect of the sacraments is translated in the context of healing/poisoning; another instance is the relation of the Holy Communion to the powerful royal Inca travel provision. González Holguínʼs translation approach shows how Christian religion could be integrated into the Andean worldview.