Tale
Indiana II: Mythen in der Muttersprache der Pipil
Not translated into English
Leonhard Schultze-Jena · 1935
Synopsis
More than fifty Pipil narratives recorded in Izalco from the dictation of Ynes Masin and other storytellers, and arranged according to four pillars of the worldview: plants, earth, water and the stars. They include the origin of the rains and the discovery of maize, the woman in fragments, the boys of the rain and the giant, the serpents of the mountain and the lake, the lords of the waters, of the seasons and of thunder, the brothers Sun and Moon; then come tales of the rabbit, the coyote and the skunk, and stories of weddings and thieves.
Context
Second volume of a series entitled Indiana, the book appeared in Jena with Gustav Fischer, with twelve plates, and gives the texts in Nahuat with their German translation. The first volume dealt with the Quiché of Guatemala, the third with the Aztecs, Mixtecs and Tlapanecs of Mexico. The fieldwork lasted about three months, the preparation five years. For Rafael Lara-Martínez, it is the most complete mythological cycle in the Pipil language, long ignored by a national literature attached to Spanish alone. A Spanish translation appeared in 1977, and Lara-Martínez has produced a poetic translation.
Who it is for
A bilingual collection, in Nahuat and German; Spanish-speaking readers have two Spanish translations at their disposal.
Prizes and reception
Rafael Lara-Martínez sees in it the most diverse example of a literature in an indigenous language in El Salvador.