Songs that make the road dance : courtship and fertility music of the Tz'utujil Maya / Linda O'Brien-Rothe ; forewords by Allen J. Christenson and Sandra L. Orellana.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Brien-Rothe, Linda, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tzutuhil Indians--Music.

Tzutuhil Indians.

Tzutuhil Indians--Religion.

Tzutuhil Indians--Rites and ceremonies.

Folk dance music--Guatemala.

Folk dance music.

Music.

Santiago Atitlán (Guatemala)--Religious life and customs.

Santiago Atitlán (Guatemala).

Santiago Atitlán (Guatemala)--Social life and customs.

Guatemala.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 244 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2015.

Summary:

An important and previously unexplored body of esoteric ritual songs of the Tz'utujil Maya of Santiago Atitlán Guatemala, the "Songs of the Old Ones" are a central vehicle for the transmission of cultural norms of behavior and beliefs within this group of highland Maya. Ethnomusicologist Linda O'Brien-Rothe began collecting these songs in 1966, and she has amassed the largest, and perhaps the only significant, collection that documents this nearly lost element of highland Maya ritual life. This book presents a representative selection of the more than ninety songs in O'Brien-Rothe's collection, including musical transcriptions and over two thousands lines presented in Tz'utujil and English translation. (Audio files of the songs can be downloaded from our website.) Using the words of the "songmen" who perform them, O'Brien-Rothe explores how the songs are intended to move the "Old Ones"-the ancestors or Nawals-to favor the people and cause the earth to labor and bring forth corn. She discusses how the songs give new insights into the complex meaning of dance in Maya cosmology, as well as how they employ poetic devices and designs that place them within the tradition of K'itch'an literature, of which they are an oral form. O'Brien-Rothe identifies continuities between the songs and the K'iche'an origin myth, the Popol Vuh, while also tracing their composition to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries by their similarities with the early chaconas that were played on the Spanish guitarra española, which survives in Santiago Atitlán as a five-string guitar. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The World Of The Tz'utujil Maya 17

The World of Spirits 18

"Song of the Spirit-Lord of the World" ("B'ix rxin Rajau Mund") 24

Duality and Metaphor in the Santo Mundo 32

The Presence of the Nawals 34

Chapter 2 The Dance and Songs of The Nawals 39

Old Mam Creates the Recibos 39

The Song of APla's Sojuel ("B'ix rxin APla's Sojuel") 41

Dance, Movement, and Songs: The Divine Currency of Sacrifice 44

Dancing the Bundle of San Martin 47

Midwife's Prayer and "Song of San Martín" ("B'ix rxin Martín") 47

Rocking the Cradle of the Marias 52

"Song of the Rocking Cradle" 54

Dancing the Wind-Men and the Rain-Men 55

Rousing San Martín and the Spirit-Lords of Rain with Song 60

"Song of Martín" ("B'ix rxin Martín") 61

Calling the Spirits of the Dead and the Drowned with Songs 63

Chapter 3 The "Songs Of The Road": Texts And Contexts 73

The Road in the Tz'utujil Maya World 77

Old Mam, the Guardian of the Road, Creates Music and Dance 79

The "Songs of Mam" ("B'ix rxin Mam") 89

The First and Second "Songs of the Road" 94

The "Third Song of the Road": Songs of Courtship and Fertility 95

"Songs of the Young Man" ("B'ix rxin C'jol") 96

"Songs of the Young Girl" ("B'ix rxin K'poj") 105

"AtPal": A Song of Courting 114

"Songs of the Young Men and Young Girls, of insults and Ridicule" ("B'ix rxin C'jola K'poja Xyo'k'a Xtz'u'ja") 119

"Songs of the Old Maid" 123

Witchcraft and Shapeshifters in the Songs 126

"Songs of the Young Girl" ("B'ix rxin K'poj") 127

The "Sad Songs" or "Tristes" 133

"They Fought" ("Xqueti' qui'") 133

"Sad Song of Our Fathers, Our Mothers" ("B'ix rxin Kadta, rxin Kate' Bis") 137

"Songs of the Flowers and the Fruit" ("B'ix rxin Colz'ej, Sk'ul") 138

Chapter 4 The Poetics of Tz'utujil Songs and Their Relationship to K'iche'an Literature 154

The Poetics of the Popol Vuh 156

The Poetics of Tz'utujil Song Texts 158

Parallelism 158

Meter 160

Onomatopoeia 162

Lists 163

Assonance and Alliteration 165

Composition of the Texts and the Influence of Musical Rhythm 165

Chapter 5 The Music Of The "Songs Of The Nawals" 168

Form and Style of the Songs 168

The "Recibos of Old Mam": The Vessel of Tz'utujil Culture 170

The "Songs of Mam" 172

"Sad Song of the Young Man" 172

"Song of the Young Girl Who Says Goodbye t? Her other" 174

"Song of the Old Maid" or "Song of the Road" 178

"Song of the Fruit" 178

The Tz'utujil Guitar 180

Historical Origins of the Tz'utujil Guitar 182

Tuning 182

Playing Style and Technique 183

Repertoire 184

How the Songs Survived: The Process of Assimilation and Transmission 188.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-227) and index.

ISBN:

9781477301098

1477301097

9781477305386

1477305386

OCLC:

893895951