LOS OJOS DE LA CARA, LA CARA DE LAS HOJAS: LOS SIGNIFICADOS CONFLICTIVOS DE IXTLAMATILISTLI

Translated title of the contribution: The eyes of the face, the face of the leaves: The conflicting meanings of ixtlamatilistli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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 contributionThe eyes of the face, the face of the leaves: The conflicting meanings of ixtlamatilistli
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)79-97
Number of pages19
JournalRevista de Critica Literaria Latinoamericana
Volume46
Issue number91
StatePublished - 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

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