Xurt'an

Name: Xurt'an | The End of the World and Other Myths, Songs, Charms, and Chants by the Northern Lacandones of Naha'
Brand: University of Nebraska Press
Price: 45.0 EUR
Availability: BackOrder

The End of the World and Other Myths, Songs, Charms, and Chants by the Northern Lacandones of Naha'

Suzanne Cook(Author)

University of Nebraska Press

Published on 1. November 2020

Book

Paperback/Softback

720 pages

978-1-4962-2224-4 (ISBN)

€45.00incl. 7% vat

Shipment within 15-20 days

Description

Xurt'an (the end of the world) showcases the rich storytelling traditions of the northern Lacandones of Naha' through a collection of traditional narratives, songs, and ritual speech. Formerly isolated in the dense, tropical rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico, the Lacandon Maya constitute one of the smallest language groups in the world. Although their language remains active and alive, their traditional culture was abandoned after the death of their religious and civic leader in 1996. Lacking the traditional contexts in which the culture was transmitted, the oral traditions are quickly being forgotten.

This collection includes creation myths that describe the cycle of destruction and renewal of the world, the structure of the universe, the realms of the gods and their intercessions in the affairs of their mortals, and the journey of the souls after death. Other traditional stories are non-mythic and fictive accounts involving talking animals, supernatural beings, and malevolent beings that stalk and devour hapless victims. In addition to traditional narratives, Xurt'an presents many songs that are claimed to have been received from the Lord of Maize, magical charms that invoke the forces of the natural world, invocations to the gods to heal and protect, and work songs of Lacandon women, whose contribution to Lacandon culture has been hitherto overlooked by scholars. Women's songs offer a rare glimpse into the other half of Lacandon society and the arduous distaff work that sustained the religion. The compilation concludes with descriptions of rainbows, the Milky Way as "the white road of Our Lord," and an account of the solstices.

Transcribed and translated by a foremost linguist of the northern Lacandon language, the literary traditions of the Lacandones are finally accessible to English readers. The result is a masterful and authoritative collection of oral literature that will both entertain and provoke, while vividly testifying to the power of Lacandon Maya aesthetic expression.

Reviews / Votes

"This is a very valuable piece of work for folklorists and linguists and is a huge contribution to scholarship in this area. I applaud Cook for including oral traditions recorded from Lacandon women. Lacandon women are largely ignored in the Lacandon ethnographic literature and archaeology, and until now I know of no compilation of Lacandon women's stories. This is an outstanding service to the field."-R. Jon McGee, professor of anthropology at Texas State University "You will be quickly drawn into this presentation of language texts contributed by skilled Mayan narrators working in multiple literary genres while covering topics ranging from the earthly to the cosmological. The author's attention to detail is unparalleled. The scope and quality of the narratives will take your breath away."-Barry Carlson, editor of Northwest Coast Texts: Stealing Light

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Content

List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. The Hach Winik ‘True People’
The Lacandones
Northern Lacandon Oral Literature
Part 2. Myths
Birth of the Gods
Bor Mäax
Hachäkyum and Akyant¿o¿ Create Their People and Kisin Creates Their Onen
Bor Mäax
Hachäkyum Makes the Ants and Snakes
Antonio Martinez
Hachäkyum Makes the Sky
Bor Mäax
Ulu¿ubir Bäarkäan Umentik Pethä ‘A Star Falls and Creates the Lagoon’
Antonio Martinez
Hachäkyum yeter T¿uup yeter Kisin ‘Hachäkyum, T¿uup, and the Devil’
Bor Mäax
Hachäkyum yeter T¿uup yeter Chäk Xib ‘Hachäkyum, T¿uup, and Chäk Xib’
Bor Mäax
Hachäkyum Uxatik Uche¿ir Ukaar ‘Hachäkyum Cuts the Mortals’ Throats’
Bor Mäax
Äkiche¿ex ‘Our Eyes’
Bor Mäax
Nacimiento ‘Birth’
Bor Mäax
Uyählehir Bah ‘The Mole Trapper’
Bor Mäax
Xurt¿an Uburur ‘The World Ends with the Flood’
Bor Mäax
Akyant¿o¿ No Permite Uxurt¿an ‘Akyant¿o¿ Prevents the End of the World’
Bor Mäax
¿Ähah
Antonio Martinez
Käwäts¿äk uho¿or Barum yeter K¿ak¿ ‘The Two-Headed Jaguar and the Lord of Fire’
Säk Ho¿or
Mensäbäk yeter Hach Winik Tukinsah ‘Mensäbäk and the Ancestor He Killed’
K¿ayum Mäax
Kak¿och yeter Uk¿ani(r) Hach Winik ‘Kak¿och and His Human Assistant’
Bor Mäax
Ak¿inchob Takes a Human Wife
Antonio Martinez
Part 3. Popular Stories
Maya Kimin ‘The Mayan Death’
Säk Ho¿or
Chäk Xok ‘The Sirens’
Bor Mäax
Nukuch Winik yeter Uti¿äar yeter Ahyäaxche¿ ‘The Ancestor, His Son, and the Ceiba Tree’
Bor Mäax
Haayok¿
Bor Mäax
Ko¿otir Käan ‘The Celestial Eagle’
Bor Mäax
Uyitber ‘He at the End of the Road’
Bor Mäax
Kak¿och yeter Uyitber ‘Kak¿och and the Yitber’
Bor Mäax
Want¿ut¿k¿in
Säk Ho¿or
P¿ikbir Ts¿on yeter Kisin ‘The Rifle and Kisin’
Säk Ho¿or
¿Ayim yetel Chem ‘The Crocodile and the Canoe’
Säk Ho¿or
Ahsaay ‘The Leafcutter Ants’
Bor Mäax
Aht¿u¿ur yeter Barum ‘The Rabbit and the Puma’
Säk Ho¿or
Ch¿ämäk yeter Chäk Barum ‘The Fox and the Puma’
Bor Mäax
Hachäkyum yeter Ahbäb ‘Hachäkyum and the Toad’
Säk Ho¿or
Pek¿ yeter ¿Ayim ‘The Dog and the Crocodile’
Säk Ho¿or
How the Toucan Got His Red Beak
Antonio Martinez
Part 4. Songs
Uk¿aay Barum ‘The Jaguar Song’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aay Box ‘The Gourd Song’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aay Käkah ‘The Cacao Song’
Juana Koh
Uk¿aay Käy ‘Fish Song’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aay ti¿ Huuch¿ ‘Song for Grinding’
Juana Koh
Uk¿aay ti¿ K¿uuch ‘Song for Spinning Thread’
Juana Koh
Uk¿aay Torok ‘The Iguana Song’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aayir Mäax ‘Song of the Monkeys’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aayir Tok¿ ‘Song of the Flint’
Antonio Martinez
Uk¿aayir Xux ‘Song of the Yellow Jacket Wasps’
Säk Ho¿or
Part 5. Ritual Speech: Invocations, Chants, and Charms
Ahhooch¿ ‘The Hooch¿’
Juana Koh
Ahts¿in ‘The Manioc’
Juana Koh
An Offering Chant during the Preparation of Balche¿
Antonio Martinez
Offering under a Tree
Antonio Martinez
Ut¿anir Bäche¿ ‘The Secret of the Balche¿’
Antonio Martinez
Part 6. Descriptions of Meteorological and Astral Phenomena
¿Äxp¿äri¿ ‘The Solstice’
Antonio Martinez
Lu¿um Kab ‘The Rainbow Gods’
Bor Mäax
Säkber Akyum ‘Our Lord’s White Road’
Antonio Martinez
Appendix 1: Lacandon Onen, Ceremonial Names, and Distribution
Appendix 2: Gods and Men in Lacandon Mythology
Notes
References

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