Abstract
The chapter provides a panoramic overview of self-translation from and into Indigenous languages among contemporary Mexican writers, in which the link between self-translation and language maintenance is closely explored. These authors often consider their decision to write in or translate into their native language as part of a broader effort to preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage. Since the conditions of the publishing market indicate these writers’ works would not otherwise be published, this language choice necessary entails self-translation. The study examines the use of this practice among authors with different linguistic backgrounds, such as Zapotec poets Natalia Toledo Paz and Irma Pineda Santiago, and Maya-Yucatec poet Briceida Cuevas Cob. It also discusses how their bilingual works are translated into other languages and what role this process can play in preserving and revitalizing Indigenous languages.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
For an overview of literary self-translation in Spain, see Parcerisas (2007), Grutman (2011), Dasilva (2009), and Manterola Agirrezabalaga (2011), in France see Ar Rouz (2015), Hupel (2015), and Forêt (2015). Self-translation in Gaelic literature is discussed in Krause (2013). Especially relevant in this regard is the volume edited by Castro et al. (2017).
- 2.
- 3.
Although it is not further specified in the report, it is very likely that the number refers to speakers of Yucatec-Mayan, as has been pointed out to me by the linguist Carol-Rose Little, who is doing fieldwork with Ch’ol in Chiapas, Mexico.
- 4.
All speakers aged 3 and older were considered (see INEGI 2011).
- 5.
The series includes bilingual poetry volumes by the following poets: Ruperta Bautista Vázquez (b. 1975, Tsotstil), Enriqueta Lunez (b. 1981, Tsotsil), Mikeas Sánchez (b. 1980, Zoque), Celerina Patricia Sánchez Santiago (b. 1967, Mixteco), Irma Pineda Santiago (b. 1974, Zapotec), Juana Karen (b. 1977, Ch’ol) and Hubert Malina (b. 1986, Tlapaneco).
Bibliography
Alejo, Jesús. 2012. “Letras indígenas: entre el desprecio y el desconocimiento”. Milenio, 11 March. http://www.webcitation.org/6KAYjjL24 (archived on 6 October 2013).
Ar Rouz, David. 2015. “De l’autotraduction à la traduction de soi: éléments de réflexion bretonne”. Glottopol, n° 25, pp. 103–123.
Baldauf, Richard B., and Robert B. Kaplan. 2007. “Language Policy and Planning in Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay: Some Common Issues”. In Language Planning and Policy in Latin America, vol. 1, ed. Richard B. Baldauf and Robert B. Kaplan, pp. 6–38. Clevedon and Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.
Ballew, Dora. 2017. “Why These Mexican Writers Are Ditching Spanish for Indigenous Languages”. OZY, 14 August. https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/why-these-mexican-writers-are-ditching-spanish-for-indigenous-languages/75743 (13 February 2019).
Call, Wendy. 2012. “Poetry Is Liberty: The Macondo Writers’ Workshop in Mexico”. World Literature Today (January). https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2012/january/poetry-liberty-macondo-writers-workshop-mexico (5 December 2018).
Castañeda Barrera, Eva. 2011. “Entrevista con Natalia Toledo”. In Periódico de Poesía. http://www.webcitation.org/6ELBSXPX1 (archived on 11 February 2013).
Castellanos Martínez, Javier. 1994. Wila che be ze ihao = Cantares de los vientos primerizos. Ciudad de Mexico: Diana.
Castro, Olga, Sergi Mainer, and Svetlana Page, eds. 2017. Self-Translation and Power Negotiating Identities in European Multilingual Contexts. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Ceh Moo, Marisol. 2009. X-Teya, u puksi’ik’al ko’olel = Teya, un corazón de mujer. Ciudad de Mexico: Conaculta.
———. 2011. Sujuy k’iin = Día sin marcha. Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán.
———. 2015. Chen tumeen chu’úpen = Sólo por ser mujer. Ciudad de Mexico: Conaculta.
Cordingley, Anthony. 2018. “Self-Translation”. In The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation, ed. Kelly Washbourne and Ben Van Wyke, Ben, pp. 352–368. London and New York: Routledge.
Critchley, Adam. 2017. “‘Concepts of the World’: Publishing in Mexico’s Indigenous Languages”. Publishing Perspectives, 22 August. https://publishingperspectives.com/2017/08/mexico-indigenous-language-publishers/ (29 November 18).
Cronin, Michael. 1998. “The Cracked Looking Glass of Servants: Translation and Minority Languages in a Global Age”. The Translator 4, no. 2: 145–162.
Dasilva, Xosé Manuel. 2009. “Autotraducirse en Galicia: ¿Bilingüismo o diglosia?” Quaderns 16: 143–156.
———. 2011. “La autotraducción transparente y la autotraducción opaca”. In Aproximaciones a la autotraducción, ed. Xosé Manuel Dasilva and Helena Tanqueiro, pp. 45–68. Vigo: Academia del Hispanismo.
Del Valle Escalante, Emilio. 2014. “Ambivalence and contradiction in contemporary Maya literature from Yucatan. Jorge Cocom Pech’s Muk’ult’an in Nool (Grandfather’s Secrets)”. In The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous American Literature, ed. James H. Cox and Daniel Heath Justice, pp. 50–64. New York: Oxford University Press.
Diego, Cecilia. 2017. “’El zapoteco es música, sube y baja; con la pura voz dice cosas’. Natalia Toledo”. La Jornada, 6 November. http://www.webcitation.org/74USOuxk1 (7 December 2018).
“Escribir en lengua originaria es un acto de resistencia: Mardonio Carballo”. 2014. Secretaría de Cultura. Prensa. https://www.gob.mx/cultura/prensa/escribir-en-lengua-originaria-es-un-acto-de-resistencia-mardonio-carballo (29 November 2018).
“Escribir en maya, un compromiso: Briceida Cuevas Cob”. 2014. Secretaría de Cultura. Prensa. https://www.gob.mx/cultura/prensa/escribir-en-maya-un-compromiso-briceida-cuevas-cob?state=published&fbclid=IwAR0SyZalvG_QsNulMc-dgiE1VL4StvifkqT6AZJ9hGG1DtYpbpeYmaDpJGw (6 December 2018).
“Escribo en zapoteco para ignorar ‘La sintaxis del dolor’. Natalia Toledo”. 2011. Crónica de Oaxaca, 4 July. http://www.webcitation.org/6KAMRbPEY (archived on 6 October 2013).
Faudree, Paja. 2013. Singing for the Dead: The Politics of Indigenous Revival in Mexico. Durham: Duke University Press.
Flores, Alondra. 2012. “Natalia Toledo invoca la palabra para curar ‘la desesperanza del alma’”. La Jornada, 30 October. https://www.jornada.com.mx/2012/10/03/cultura/a12n1cul (8 December 2018).
Flores Soria, Eugenia. 2013. “Natalia Toledo: una mirada del mundo”. Zócalo Saltillo, 30 August. http://www.webcitation.org/6KAQUVp73 (archived on 6 October 2013).
Forêt, Jean-Claude. 2015. “L’auteur occitan et son double”. Glottopol 25: 136–150.
Franco, Jean. 2005. “Some Reflections on Contemporary Writing in the Indigenous Languages of America”. Comparative American Studies. An International Journal 3, no. 4: 455–469.
García, Nancy. 2017. “Irma Pineda. El canto de la gente nube. Entrevista”. Correro del libro. http://www.correodellibro.com.mx/entrevista/irma-pineda-canto-de-la-gente-nube/ (8 December 2018).
García Hernández, Arturo. 2009. “El temor a romper tradiciones limita a las lenguas originarias”. La Jornada, 16 June. http://www.webcitation.org/74RTCWnPO (archived on 5 December 2018).
Gentes, Eva. 2013. “Potentials and Pitfalls of Publishing Self-Translations as Bilingual Editions”. Orbis Litterarum 68, no. 3: 266–281.
———. 2016. “Literarische Selbstübersetzung im Kontext weniger verbreiteter Sprachen — ein zweischneidiges Schwert?” Flusser Studies 22. http://www.flusserstudies.net/sites/www.flusserstudies.net/files/media/attachments/gentes-literarische-selbstubersetzung-kontext-weniger-verbreiteter-sprachen.pdf (8 December 2018).
———. 2017. (Un-)Sichtbarkeit der literarischen Selbstübersetzung in der romanischsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur. Eine literatur- und übersetzungssoziologische Annäherung. PhD thesis, Düsseldorf: Heinrich-Heine-Universität.
Gonzales, Rocío, and Toledo Paz, Natalia. 2002. Lunaverses & Femmes d’or. French translation by Denys Bé́langer and Bernard Pozier. Trois-Rivières: Écrits des Forges.
González Cortiñas, Fernanda. 2006. “‘Debemos demostrar que hay una voz genuina, una cultura real’”. Página/12, 18 October. http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/rosario/12-5785-2006-10-18.html (2 December 2018).
Grenoble, Leonore A., and Lindsay J. Whaley. 2006. Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grutman, Rainier. 2011. “Diglosia y autotraducción ,vertical‘ (en y fuera de España)”. In Aproximaciones a la autotraducción, ed. Xosé Manuel Dasilva and Helena Tanqueiro, pp. 69–92. Vigo: Academia del Hispanismo.
———. 2015. “Francophonie et autotraduction”. Interfrancophonies 6: 1–17.
Hamel, Rainer Enrique. 2008a. “Indigenous Language Policy and Education in Mexico”. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Volume 1: Policy and Political Issues in Education, ed. Stephen May and Nancy Hornberger, pp. 301–313. New York: Springer.
———. 2008b. “Bilingual Education for Indigenous Communities in Mexico”. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Volume 5: Bilingual Education, ed. Stephen May and Nancy Hornberger, pp. 311–322. New York: Springer.
Hupel, Erwan. 2015. “Le coeur et l’esprit: déchirements et stratégies d’autotraduction chez quelques auteurs bretons”. Glottopol 25: 124–135.
INEGI. 2011. “Censo de población y Vivienda 2010. Tabulados de Cuestionario Básico” http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/tabuladosbasicos/LeerArchivo.aspx?ct=27418&c=27302&s=est&f=2 (19 November 2018).
Krause, Corinna. 2013. “‘Why Bother with the Original?’ Self-Translation and Scottish Gaelic Poetry”. In Self-Translation: Brokering Originality in Hybrid Culture, ed. Anthony Cordingley, pp. 127–140. London: Continuum.
Lüpke, Friederike. 2011. “Orthography Development”. In The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages, pp. 312–336. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Manterola Agirrezabalaga, Elizabete. 2011. “La autotraducción en la literatura vasca”. In Aproximaciones a la autotraducción, ed. Xosé Manuel Dasilva and Helena Tanqueiro, pp. 111–140. Vigo: Academia del Hispanismo.
Mascarúa Sánchez, Sara. 2005. “Le traigo ganas a la novela”, 15 December. http://www.fondodeculturaeconomica.com/subdirectorios_site/Prensa/historico/20051215.pdf (7 December 2018).
Mateos-Vega, Mónica. 2014. “Natalia Toledo lleva la vitalidad de la lengua zapoteca a EU”. La Jornada, 18 July. http://www.webcitation.org/74Z9N8FdF (archived on 10 December 2018).
McKenna Brown, Robert. 2002. “Endangered Languages and Their Literatures”. In Endangered Languages and Their Literatures. Proceedings of the Sixth FEL Conference, Antigua Guatemala, 8–10 August, ed. Robert McKenna Brown, pp. 1–4. Bath: The Foundation for Endangered Languages.
Meridiano 105°. Antología de poésia de mujeres en lenguas indígenas. 2018. http://105grados.filos.unam.mx/ (10 December 2018).
Mihaly, Ryan. 2015. “Translating Indigenous Mexican Writers: An Interview with Translator David Shook”. Asymptote, 12 October. https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2015/10/12/translating-indigenous-mexican-writers-an-interview-with-translator-david-shook/ (29 November 2018).
Montemayor, Carlos. 2004. “Past and Present Writing in Indigenous Languages”. In Words of the True Peoples / Palabras de los Seres Verdaderos. Anthology of Contemporary Mexican Indigenous-Language Writers/Antología de Escritores Actuales en Lenguas Indígenas de México. Volume 1 Prose/Prosa, ed. Carlos Montemayor y Donald Frischmann, pp. 1–8. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Montemayor, Carlos, and Donald Frischmann, eds. 2004. Words of the True Peoples / Palabras de los Seres Verdaderos. Anthology of Contemporary Mexican Indigenous-Language Writers/Antología de Escritores Actuales en Lenguas Indígenas de México. Vol. 1 Prose/Prosa. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———, eds. 2005. Words of the True Peoples / Palabras de los Seres Verdaderos…. Vol. 2: Poetry/Poésia. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———, eds. 2007. Words of the True Peoples/Palabras de los Seres Verdaderos…. Vol. 3: Theater/Teatro. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Montero, Martha Patricia. 2012. “Desgranar la palabra”. La otra L 10: 20–25.
“Natalia Toledo tributa al folclor zapoteco”. 2011. El Siglo de Torréon, 29 June. http://www.webcitation.org/6HwA6AiUC (archived on 7 July 2013).
NotiMex. 2013. “Evoca poesía de Irma Pineda esencia de la tierra y tradición zapoteca”. Vanguardia, 12 December. https://vanguardia.com.mx/evocapoesiadeirmapinedaesenciadelatierraytradicionzapoteca-1901131.html (2 December 2018).
Núñez Peña, Kevin Javier. 2016. “Poesía con sabor zapoteco”. Eikon, 1 September. http://www.webcitation.org/74V3NYGZ8 (archived on 8 December 2018).
Padilla, Santiago. 2011. “Sonidos y letras de Juchitán: sabor a Natalia Toledo”. Contra Tiempo, 31 March. https://revistacontratiempo.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/cultura-3-3/ (2 December 2018).
Parcerisas, Francesc. 2007. “Idéologie et autotraduction entre cultures asymétriques”. Atelier de Traduction 7: 111–119.
Ramis, Josep Miguel. 2013. “La autotraducción y el difícil encaje de sistemas literarios en contacto”. Eu-topías: revista de interculturalidad, comunicación y estudios europeos 5: 99–111.
Rangel, Cecilia Enjuto. 2014. “La poética de la traducción. Briceida Cuevas Cob”. Cuadernos de ALDEEU 25: 279–300.
Regino, Juan Gregorio and Inés Hernández-Avila. 2004. “A conversation with Juan Gregorio Regino, Mazatec Poet. June 25, 1998”. American Indian Quarterly 28, n° 1–2: 121–129.
Rodríguez, Javier. 2011. “Comparte Natalia Toledo su arte de hacer poesía en zapoteco y español”. Ciudadanía Express, 30 June. https://www.ciudadania-express.com/2011/06/30/comparte-natalia-toledo-su-arte-de-hacer-poesia-en-zapoteco-y-espanol/ (8 December 2018).
Rodríguez, Ricardo. 2008. “Natalia Toledo, Representante de la cultura indígena a través de la poesía”. Diario de Xalapa, 27 September. http://www.webcitation.org/6NSQEGMS2 (archived on 17 February 2014).
Ruiz Hernández, Elisa. 2012. “La nostalgia me lleva a escribir en lengua zapoteca: Natalia Toledo”. Quadratin Oaxaca, 21 February. http://www.webcitation.org/6Hw9OtXAI (archived on 17 July 2013).
Sell, Sean S., and Nicolás Huet Bautista, eds. 2017. Chiapas Maya Awakening: Contemporary Poems and Short Stories. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Shook, David. 2014. “David Shook translating Mikeas Sánchez”. Drunken Boat 19. http://www.drunkenboat.com/db19/translation/david-shook-translating-mikeas-sanchez.html (6 December 2018).
———. 2015. “A Report (and Translation) from the Premio de Literaturas Indígenas de las Américas”. World Literature Today, 21 October. https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/road/report-and-translation-premio-de-literaturas-indigenas-de-las-americas (29 November 2018).
Sullivan, Clare. 2010. “Poetry & Place: The Zapotec Roots of Natalia Toledo”. ata Source 48. Special Issue. Women in Translation: 25–29.
———. 2012. “The State of Zapotec Poetry: Can Poetry Save an Endangered Culture?” World Literature Today 86, no. 1: 42–45.
Terán, Víctor y David Shook, eds. 2015. Like a New Sun: New Indigenous Mexican Poetry. Los Angeles: Phoneme Media.
Terborg, Roland, and Laura García Landa. 2007. “The Language Situation in Mexico”. In Language Planning and Policy in Latin America, vol. 1, ed. Richard B. Baldauf y Robert B. Kaplan, pp. 115–217. Clevedon and Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.
Toledo Paz, Natalia. 2002. Ca guna gu bidxa, ca guna guiiba’ risaca = Mujeres del sol, mujeres de oro. Oaxaca: Instituto Oaxaqueño de las Culturas.
Toledo Paz, Natalia. 2005. Guie’ yaase’ = Olivo negro. México, D.F.: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y la Artes, Dirección General de Culturas Populares e Indígenas.
———. 2015. The Black Flower and Other Zapotec Poems. Tr. Clare Sullivan. Los Angeles: Phoneme Media.
Valdovinos, Margarita. 2015. “From policies to practice. The complex role of social mediators in Náayeri public education (Nayarit, Mexico)”. In Policy and Planning for Endangered Languages, ed. Mari C. Jones, pp. 80–92. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Villegas, Wildernain. 2013. “Briceida Cuevas, verbo florecido del mayab”. Tierra Adentro, 20 August. http://www.webcitation.org/74PqyAd6n?fbclid=IwAR0igslFtaB_17NSTycAXc2E2hy5zakIoGxAxutYD2shW4f596Q0YEik0PI (archived on 4 December 2018).
Worley, Paul M. 2017. “Máseual excluido/indio permitido: neoliberal translation in Waldemar Noh Tzec”. Latin Amercian and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 12, no. 3: 290–314.
———. 2018a. “On Translating Indigenous Languages”. Asymptote, 7 June. https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2018/06/07/on-translating-from-indigenous-languages/#more-16492 (6 December 2018).
———. 2018b. “Translating kuxlejal in Ab’ya Yala in Four Mesoamerican Poets”. Latin American Literature Toady 8. http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/november/translating-kuxlejal-ab%E2%80%99ya-yala-four-mesoamerican-poets-paul-worley (11 December 2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gentes, E. (2019). Self-Translation in Contemporary Indigenous Literatures in Mexico. In: Bujaldón de Esteves, L., Bistué, B., Stocco, M. (eds) Literary Self-Translation in Hispanophone Contexts - La autotraducción literaria en contextos de habla hispana. Translation History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23625-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23625-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23624-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23625-0
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)