Tun, Molly2015-11-062015-11-062015-06https://hdl.handle.net/11299/175356University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2015. Major: Hispanic and Luso Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics. Advisor: Luis Ramos-García. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 208 pages.In my dissertation I question the conceptions of writing that surfaced during the colonial period in Peru and argue that the quipu operated as a writing system which was central to the Inca civilization but later marginalized through Spanish colonization. This work brings to the forefront the importance of mathematics and counting in the context of conquest and colonization, as well as possible connections between semiotics and power. This research expands colonial studies by presenting new archival sources within an interdisciplinary approach. Such an analysis of the origins of colonial culture has the potential to re-locate Andean thought within the unilateral colonial power structures, thus changing the way in which minority discourse and indigenous agency is recognized and historicized.esColonialEthnomathematicsIncaPeruQuipuWritingThesis or Dissertation