2000 Years of Mayan Literature

Mayan literature is among the oldest in the world, spanning an astonishing two millennia from deep pre-Columbian antiquity to the present day. Here, for the first time, is a fully-illustrated survey, from the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions to the works of later writers using the alphabet. Dennis Tedlock-ethnographer, linguist, poet, and award-winning author-draws on decades of living and working among the Maya to assemble this groundbreaking book, which is the first to treat ancient Mayan texts as literature. From his engaging introduction, which includes a primer on reading Mayan hieroglyphs, Tedlock considers the texts chronologically. He elevates the individuals who wrote them to the status of authors rather than scribes and establishes that women were among the ancient writers. He treats poetry as an integral part of the Mayan writing system rather than as something added, and he challenges the idea that Mayan rulers claimed the status of gods. This original, innovative, and important volume pursues its themes with extraordinary insight and imagination. It expands not only our understanding and appreciation of Mayan literature but of indigenous American literature in its entirety.