Posdata: Cantares

[David Wright]

Listeros:

 

I should be working on a paper about the historical context of the Huamantla
map, and another about the role of the Otomi in pre-Hispanic central Mexican
society, but the Cantares Mexicanos keep popping up and getting in the way.
There are worse sorts of distractions, like committee meetings and annual
reports, so I'm not complaining.

 

First (a few months ago) came a request by a concert pianist to evaluate the
accuracy of Brinton's translation of a verse from the "Huexozincayotl" song
from the Cantares Mexicanos, which a composer wanted to incorporate into a
contemporary piece for piano. I translated it, and then compared my
translation with Brinton's, Garibay's, and Bierhorst's translations, which
gave me a limited glimpse into the evolution of the art/science of Nahuatl
translation over the last century or so.

 

Then came the lively discussion on the Nahuat-l list last week, in response
to John Bierhorst's post with the link to his article on Ian Mursell's
Mexicolore site.

 

Last night I picked up the new book Negotiation within Dominion, edited by
Ethelia Ruiz and Susan Kellogg, and began reading Ethelia's chapter
"Fighting destiny". There she deals with native and mendicant involvement in
the 1566 encomendero revolt. Citing the Anales de Juan Bautista, a text in
Nahuatl translated by Luis Reyes, she mentions the performance of dances and
songs with the same titles as some of those in the Cantares Mexicanos
manuscript (Chichimecayotl and Atequilizcuicatl), both with plenty of
martial metaphors, in the context of a noble wedding in Mexico City, in
1564. Ruiz interprets this passage in these terms:

 

"The singing of those songs during the wedding of Santa Maria Cipac, member
of the lineage of Tenochtitlan and the last royal lord to govern, was not
done just to entertain the audience. The songs had an important symbolic
content for the Indians who listened to them, and they transmitted a message
specifically centered on the greatness of the native kings and lords as well
as the ritual importance of war. Those elements carried a traditional
meaning, one of resistance, just at the time when the Tenochca were
threatened by strong fiscal pressures and when their governor was seeing his
power of negotiation with the colonial authorities on this subject seriously
diminished."

 

This mention of the performance of the cantares in a specific historical,
social, and cultural context in the second half of the sixteenth century is
certainly relevant to the discussion. Song and dance with pre-Hispanic roots
are related to issues of cultural resistance and ethnic identity to this
day. Similar manifestations of resistance may be found in the visual arts,
notably the facade carvings and nave paintings of the Augustinian church at
Ixmiquilpan (http://www.paginasprodigy.com/dcwright/sangre.htm), which
parallel the Cantares in some ways: native martial imagery is combined with
forms from the Old World and is used to fortify traditional native culture,
giving these symbols a new, vital role within the colonial context. If this
seems out of synch with existing models of the society of New Spain, then
these models need to be revised.

 

OK, back to work.

 

Saludos,

 

David





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