Abstract
In this article I analyze Nahua playwright Ildefonso Maya’s theatrical work Ix-tlamatinij (1987). The Nahuatl term ixtlamatini, in the Huasteca, has two meanings that clash with one another. It can denote a person who has gained knowledge through lived experience, or instead someone who has obtained knowledge through university education. I argue that the conflictive meanings of ixtlamatini are key to understanding how Maya stages Nahua perspectives as valid intellec-tual production. In doing so, he proposes a wider conception of what constitutes a text, of what has ixtli (face): ceremonies, the environment, clothing, and language as a metonym of the face. The work Ixtlamatinij defends Nahua practices as an effective strategy to dismantle the discrimination aimed against Native nations.
| Translated title of the contribution | The eyes of the face, the face of the leaves: The conflicting meanings of ixtlamatilistli |
|---|---|
| Original language | Spanish |
| Pages (from-to) | 79-97 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Revista de Critica Literaria Latinoamericana |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 91 |
| State | Published - 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020, Latinoamericana Editores. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Huasteca
- Mexican literature
- Mexico
- Na-hua
- Nahuatl
- codeswitching
- decolonizing methodologies
- education
- indigenous studies
- language revitalization
- theatre