"As the Mexican war for independence raged and Spain struggled to free itself from Napoleon's yoke, a friar in Chiapas translated into the Tzotzil Mayan language an 1812 proclamation aimed at inspiring loyalty to Spain among the inhabitants of its colonies. This translation, actually a lengthy adaptation and elaboration of the original Spanish text, is the oldest extant narrative in Tzotzil. It is of extraordinary value both as a source on the Tzotzil language and as a grass-roots commentary on spanish policy at the end of the colonial period."
"In this book, Robert M. Laughlin translates the proclamation and its Spanish source into English and provides a detailed and lively account of the proclamation's historical context, examining the surrounding political conflicts and intrigues on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the situation of the Tzotzils at the time. He also explores the rich metaphorical language through which the friar attempted to make Spain's political problems meaningful and compelling to his intended Maya audience. Transcriptions of the Spanish and Tzotzil texts are included."
"This original work will be of great interest to students of Mayan languages, historians of the colonial and early national periods, and anthropologists of the Maya region. As the Tzotzils and other Mayas of Chiapas have recently claimed a place on the stage of world events, this look at their role in an earlier period of conflict will be especially welcome."--Jacket.

Robert M. Laughlin

University at Albany, Institute for Mesoamerican Studies

University of Texas Press ; Eurospan

United States, United States of America

Austin, Tex., London, 2003

PS, 2003

Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-284) and index.
Rev. translation of: La gran serpiente cornuda.

<p>"Dr. Robert M. LaughIin, one of the world's greatest students of native language and culture, has produced a "historical anthropology" that is both captivating and illuminating. Like a mystery novel, the reader is led from the accidental discovery of a Tzotzil-Maya nineteenth-century text, found in the very building where Laughlin works (the Smithsonian Institution), through the bizarre and dramatic history of events surrounding the 1812 Cortes in Spain and an obscure proclamation sent to the officials of the American colonies. Through Laughlin's detailed accounts of these historical events that took place in Spain, New Spain, Peru, Guatemala, and Chiapa, the reader learns the meaning of the proclamation for the Creoles and Indians to whom it was addressed. In the best tradition of the "microhistorian," the proclamation and its Tzotzil text are historically and culturally contextualized rather than explained. As Laughlin himself states in his introduction: 'The pages that follow present a theater of the absurd, a fabulous history with myriads of details as if set in the Milky Way. The reader will not be comforted with an historical 'argument'.' The prose is wonderful, the characters alive, and the plot intriguing. And along the way, the reader is treated to an inside perspective on the vicissitudes and small triumphs of colonial Indians in one small corner of the Mesoamerican world."- Robert M. Carmack, Professor Emeritus, University at Albany</p>

xiii, 302 p., [24] p. of plates :
Rev. translation of: La gran serpiente cornuda
Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-284) and index

2023-10-09