An Introduction to the Literary Works
An excellent resource is Kotz’ib’ Nuestra literatura maya by Gaspar Pedro González, a Q’anjob’al poet who has outlined the literary history of the Maya in this collection. In the introduction Gaspar Pedro González defines the title, a Q’anjob’al word, Ktoz’ib’, and tells the Westerner to proceed carefully when analyzing literature from another corner of the world:
“El título en una sola palabra, indica la primera persona del plural, (‘nuestro’ en q’anjob’al), que se pone en consonancia con el tema, ya que encierra un concepto más amplio que la simple acción de graficar. Kotz’ib’ abarca las distintas maneras de expresar el pensamiento mediante signos, símbolos, colores, tejidos y líneas. La literatura maya como producto cultural de una sociedad, que tiene un particular punto de vista filosófico sobre el mundo y la vida, no siempre debe ser sometida al análisis bajo los cánones de la cultura occidental. Pues los ojos y los sentimientos de sus autores, se enmarcan dentro de esa cosmovisión que les permite la cultura.
The title, in one word, indicates first person plural, (‘our’ in Q’anjob’al language). This word is in harmony with the theme since it embodies an even broader conception that of the simple action of writing it down. Kotz’ib’ embraces the different ways of expressing thought through signs, symbols, colors, weavings and lines. Mayan literature, as a cultural product of a society, with a particular philosophical point of view about the world and life, shouldn’t always be subjected to analysis according to the canons of Western culture. These author’s eyes and feelings are framed by the cosmovision that their culture gives them.
Kotz’ib’ Nuestra literatura maya, Gaspar Pedro González, page 7.”
Over and over, while conducting research, I have read and felt the indignation of Mayan writers as they are analyzed and supposedly “discovered” by Western intellectuals who are constantly searching for new territory to expropriate for their personal gain in the form of publication. This explanation of one word from the Q’anjob’al language shows that word-to-word translation is impossible when the value or nuance of a word in Maya cannot be expressed by one word in english. I began to feel I too was treading on a territory that is not mine to share. Many Mayans are “educated” and have taken up the pen to write their feelings and express their truth, instead of letting “educated” outsiders take their stories and tell them with their own interpretation. It’s unfortunate that our personal perspective always casts a shadow over anything we observe and in turn interpret in our own words. And even more unfortunate is the difficulty of expressing one's world while trying to follow a second world based on an entirely different set of beliefs and practices. Transferring Mayan oral stories into Western literary forms must be a nearly impossible feat.
Gaspar Pedro González gives an overview of Mayan literature, beginning 15,000 years ago and moving through the nomad period, to the agricultural era and the beginning of cultural and artistic development when urban centers were formed around 1000 BC. When the Spaniards arrived in 1524 the Mayans were an intellectual and artistic society. They had a calendar and produced hieroglyphic writing. Their numerical writing included the concept of zero which was represented in the shape of a conch shell, possibly because of their cyclical view of life and the universe. They had scrutinized the depths of the universe through astronomy, mathematics, and the ordering of time. Early writing was based on onomatopoeic sounds coming from nature and the elements. These were a people centered on the earth where they lived.
When the Spaniards arrived they began destroying Mayan writings and prohibited them from writing, in an attempt to break down their cosmic beliefs and indoctrinate them in Catholicism. The beginning of silencing, a silencing that continues to be felt in all cultures of the world, but especially among the Mayans of Guatemala.
The written word is stripped from them, and a different, foreign word must be mastered. According to Gaspar Pedro González the early texts show the ancestral influence in their repeated speech, but soon they had transformed their means of expression and the belief system they had once had, beliefs that became enveloped in the Spanish way of life. Writing was prohibited and became a clandestine activity. After 1700 there are no products of indigenous thought in the form of literature or art. The result of the denial of a whole culture, of sweeping a whole culture under the rug has had a tremendous effect on Guatemalan and Mayan culture. The following quote discusses this denial, focusing on the colonial period and the division of people according to race:
Es así como se ensayan los distintos métodos de negación de una cultura maya que trasciende a los límites del racismo manifiesto a través de los movimientos que se han dado por llamar como el absorcionismo y el integracionismo cultural. A la par del maya los criollos (mestizos) construyen una falsa identidad como una contraparte para hacer sentir su superioridad dentro de una explicación estereotipada, elocuentemente formulada por Shea (1994) en los siguientes términos: “Esta falta de una identidad en que basarse se revela en el mundo vacío y superficial de los ladinos que, por haber negado mitad de su propia herencia, tienen que buscar una razón de ser en la continua explotación del indígena, así afirmando su propia superioridad sobre su otra mitad.”
That’s how the different ways of negating a Mayan culture are practiced, and this practice reaches the extremes of racism manifest in movements calling themselves assimilation and cultural integration. At the same time the Creole (Mestizos) build up a false identity as a counterpart, to make themselves feel superior within a stereotypical explanation, eloquently expressed by Shea (1994) in the following terms: “This lack of identity upon which to rest is seen in the empty and superficial world of the Ladinos, who, having denied half of their own heritage have to find a reason for being in continuous exploitation of the indigenous, thus affirming their own superiority over the other half.”
Kotz’ib’ Nuestra literatura maya, Gaspar Pedro González, page 71.
In many ways these practices are still in place today in Guatemala and in the world. Traveling through this country one quickly sees part of the people well-dressed, in nice cars, eating in restaurants, and a vast majority living off the land in rural areas in regional dress with what appears to be very little material wealth. The attitude of superiority and the subservient role of the indigenous is still in play between Ladinos and Mayans, and between the 'First' and 'Third' worlds.
Gaspar Pedro González outlines the early literature of the Mayans. He explains that El Popol Wuj was a collective document, written by various Mayan authors, and that it was a book of advice or lessons on life which captured the essence of Mayan living. It expresses the creation of man and Mayan philosophy. He highlights the following early works: El Memorial de Sololá, El Título de los Señores de Totonicapán, El Xajoj Tun o Rabinal Achi’, La Canción de la Danza del Arquero Flechador, Los libros de Chilam Balam. Before the arrival of the Spaniards the Mayans recorded their knowledge and history in their hieroglyphic writing. To this day the research into the meaning of these writings continues. The nature of Mayan literature has been an oral nature, the telling of anecdotes to teach and instruct, the passing down of stories in a calm, repetitive fashion from elders to the younger members of the community. It’s unfair for me to say there are few Mayan women authors; I would have to learn to speak one of the thirty Mayan languages and go live in a community to learn the stories which have not been written down, but are passed down orally. As Mayans have gained access to institutions of higher learning they have begun to write down their stories in a desire to preserve the wisdom of their community. It's interesting to note that the Mayan codices were burned, destroying their written expression and possibly leading to a more oral expression. Colonization repeats itself as Mayans are now asked to put their stories into written form once again. While researching Latina writers, and in literary history in general, men gain access to education and publication first. For this reason the search for Mayan women writers only turned up Calixta Gabriel Xiquín, Maya Cu, KAQLA and Rigoberta Menchú at that time. The Mayan community's oral literature consists of legends, myths, stories, beliefs, proverbs, sayings, tongue twisters, hymns, prayers, advice, songs, jokes, predictions, ceremonies, recipes....the majority of this oral literature perpetuates the norms that lead to peaceful living among the members of the group. And most importantly, the author is the people, the collective that the story comes from. Certain people in the village may have the voice to tell the story or transmit it into writing, but the story belongs to the people. This lack of ownership is very difficult for the Western mind, but a very important concept that many would benefit many Westerners.