How Aztec Poetry Works

[Michael McCafferty]

Dear Dr. Dodds Pennock:

Hi. Yes, I'm aware of his work, and have always been impressed, going 
back many years. I'm not attempting to enter into any debate. I wasn't 
aware there was a debate. He simply posted something on the discussion 
group "wall," and I'm just curious about what is going on. That's all. 
I was not aware of the reviews, and will look into that. Thank you! I 
agree with you that Dr. Bierhorst's contributions to the Work are 
inestimable.

Michael




Quoting Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock <c.pennock at sheffield.ac.uk>:

> 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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>
>




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