The Mythology of Mexico and Central America

By: John Bierhorst

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Paperback | 1 July 2002

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266 Pages

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23.39 x 15.6 x 1.42

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In a framework different from the other two Bierhorst mythology volumes, the Mexico and Central American volume provides complete translations of 20 ''basic myths'' of this region and shows how they have influenced the artistic, literary, and political life of modern Mesoamerica. Bierhorst introduces readers to myths from the Aztec and Maya of pre-Columbian times to the Indian groups that survive today. In a new afterword, Bierhorst discusses how in the late 1980s and 1990s, native mythology has been recast to shed light on themes placed in the foreground of public consciousness - democracy, cultural pluralism, religious freedom and environmentalism. Mythology energizes native politics from the high-profile political activisim of the Zapotec Indians against the World Trade Organization to the Nobel Prize winning Quiche Maya activist Rigoberta Menchu. Efforts to demystify the region''s mythology include the criticism and investigation of the legend of Juan Diego and the ever-popular Virgin of Guadeloupe. The book includes a glossary, pronunciation guide, notes, bibliography, index, maps. and photos.

Industry Reviews

"This book should serve as a road map to the cultural wealth of Mesoamerica. John Bierhorst has provided unique stories that will delight his readers. He draws us easily through myths of creation and destruction, of the quest for corn, of wise heroes who come to us as elders and defiant little boys. By remaining faithful to the simplicity of the telling he preserves the power of images that continue to keep alive centuries of cultural heritage."--The New York Times Book Review

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Preface	p. v
A Note on Pronunciation	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
The Storytellers
Central Mexico	p. 19
Oaxaca	p. 29
Southern Mesoamerica	p. 36
Northwest Mexico	p. 47
Lower Central America	p. 54
The Basic Myths
Beginnings
The emergence of ancestors (Aztec)	p. 67
The man of crops (Jicaque)	p. 68
Why the earth eats the dead (Bribri)	p. 74
Opossum steals fire (Mazatec)	p. 77
Destructions and New Beginnings
The loss of the ancients (Tarahumara)	p. 79
The flood myth (Mixe)	p. 80
The seeds of humanity (Guaymi)	p. 84
The tree and the flood (Cabecar)	p. 84
The Quest for Corn
The hidden corn (Mopan)	p. 86
Corn woman's marriage (Cora)	p. 90
The grasshoppers and the corn (Pipil)	p. 98
Sun Myths
The sun and the fire (Huichol)	p. 100
How the sun was named (Yaqui)	p. 101
The childhood of sun and moon (Chatino)	p. 102
Sun and his brothers (Tzotzil)	p. 110
The courtship of sun and moon (Kekchi)	p. 112
Journeys to the Other World
Thunder's apprentice (Mam)	p. 116
The dead wife (Miskito)	p. 117
The buzzard husband (Tzutujil)	p. 120
The visit to the animal master (Chinantec)	p. 123
Building mythologies
Myths in Sequence	p. 129
Gods and the Ordering of Space	p. 143
Adventures of the Hero	p. 158
Writing History	p. 174
Myths and Nationalism	p. 188
Afterword	p. 208
Glossary of Special Terms	p. 215
Notes on Sources	p. 217
References	p. 230
Index	p. 244
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The Mythology of Mexico and Central America

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Industry Reviews

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