How Aztec Poetry Works

[Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock]

Dear Michael (and colleagues),

I do not wish to defend John Bierhorst's specific translation here - as we
all know, there is considerable scope for discussion and controversy
regarding Nahuatl translation, and my intention is not to enter into this
particular debate. I do feel, however, that I should mention that John
Bierhorst is a well-known and recognised scholarly translator of Nahuatl
texts. Most famously perhaps, he is responsible for a very widely-known
translation of the Cantares Mexicanos into English with an accompanying
dictionary and orthography. Your email implies (my apologies if I have
misunderstood) that you are unaware of this, so I thought it might be
helpful to mention it. 

Interestingly, the debates over this edition relate closely to the issue
which you raise. A quick search for the volume will reveal many reviews
which show that, whilst John Bierhorst has been praised making widely
available a highly accurate transcription of these important texts, his
translation and interpretation have been highly controversial. You may find
it interesting to read some of the following reviews:

Frances F. Berdan, 'Review', American Ethnologist, 14.3 (1986), pp. 597-8.
S.L. Cline, 'Review', Hispanic American Historical Review, 66.4 (1986), pp.
786-7.
Karen Dakin, 'Review', American Anthropologist, 88.4 (1986), pp. 1014-16.
Frances Karttunen, 'Review', Language, 63.2 (1987), pp. 442-3.
Miguel León-Portilla, '¿Una nueva interpretacion de los cantares mexicanos?
La obra de John Bierhorst', Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, 2.1 (1986),
pp. 129-44.
James Lockhart, 'Care, Ingenuity and Irresponsibility: The Bierhorst edition
of the Cantares Mexicanos', Reviews in Anthropology, 16 (1991), pp. 119-32.
Wayne R. Ruwet, 'Review', The Americas (1986), pp. 120-1.
James M. Taggart, 'Review', The Journal of American Folklore (1986), pp.
483-4.

John Bierhorst's work is undoubtedly controversial, but I don't think any
Nahuatl scholar (however much they, or indeed I, may dispute his
interpretations) doubts his serious involvement with and contribution to the
debate. 

Best regards,
Caroline
----------------
Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock
Lecturer in International History
Department of History
University of Sheffield

http://www.shef.ac.uk/history/staff/caroline_dodds_pennock.html




-----Original Message-----
From: nahuatl-bounces at lists.famsi.org
[mailto:nahuatl-bounces at lists.famsi.org] On Behalf Of Michael McCafferty
Sent: 09 December 2010 13:48
To: nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] How Aztec Poetry Works

Dear Dr. Bierhorst:

This is a very curious site. Thank you for sharing it.

I'm curious about your background in Nahuatl. Moreover, have you 
translated these poems yourself from Nahuatl to English or is this a 
work, much like Coleman Barks' Rumi "translations," (excellent for what 
they are) in which you do not in essence translate but rely on others' 
work to, in effect, reproduce the old poems in English.

In this connection, I'm curious about this "swan" translation for 
quechol(li), since a quecholli is not a swan. Is this poetic license at 
work, and, if so, does poetic license actually further our knowledge of 
Nahuatl and of the Nahuatl-speaking community of the past?

Yet, again, thank you for sharing this. It looks very interesting.

Michael McCafferty

Quoting "jbierhorst at aol.com" <jbierhorst at aol.com>:

>
>
> An article entitled "How Aztec Poetry Works" has been posted on the
> Mexicolore website at:
>
> http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&twoªa&idQ7&typ=reg
>
>
>
> This is a simple explanation, using techniques drawn from corpus
> linguistics -- and with a link to the University of Texas website
> <utdi.org> for more complete information.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>



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