Leyendas de Guatemala

Leyendas de Guatemala ("Legends of Guatemala," 1930) was the first book to be published by Nobel-prizewinning author Miguel Ángel Asturias. The book is a re-telling of Maya stories from Asturias's homeland of Guatemala. It reflects the author's study of anthropology and Central American indigenous civilizations, undertaken in France, at the Sorbonne. The nature of oral tradition is evident in Leyendas de Guatemala, as shown in the dedication: “To my mother, who used to tell me stories.” This reflects the traditional character of the origin of the stories, in which Asturias takes collective memory to a higher level of awareness through his fictionalization.

In critic Jean Franco's description, the book "gave lyrical recreations of Guatemalan folklore many of which drew their inspiration from pre-Columbian and colonial sources."

The writing style of Leyendas de Guatemala is the product of a fortunate experiment, which established a structure that can be called poetic intuition. Leyendas de Guatemala can be read not only from an anthropological perspective, but also as an aesthetic experience that confirms the originality of the style.

Plot Summary

Guatemala

Guatemala serves as a first introduction to the legends about the Central American nation bearing the same name . This story presents Guatemala as a palimpsest, in which the duality of past vs. present and the Mayan-Quiché vs. the Spanish becomes prominent to the country of Guatemala, in order to situate the reader in the geographical setting of the leyendas .

The story begins with a winding road and a cart approaching an unnamed city and focuses on a pair of goitered elders, who are the owners of a shop and who are laden with the country's heritage. The character, “Cuco de los Sueños,” is introduced to stitch together the legends that compose the rest of the book, told by these elders.

In this section, Asturias refers to the main cities and sites of Guatemala. He presents cities such as Guatemala City and Antigua, which were formed during the colonial era of Guatemala. Asturias also mentions the Guatemalan sites of Quiriguá, Tikal, as well as Palenque and Copán, which although they are not part of modern-day Guatemala, were part of the "Maya Empire" . It is explained in this leyenda that the modern cities of Guatemala have been physically constructed upon previous colonial and indigenous cities, which creates an image of Guatemala as "a house of several levels" and gives legitimacy to the "unity of the Hispanic and Maya races" . Asturias emphasizes that ancient cultures are preserved within these layers.

The narrator then tells two anecdotes, one about Brother Pedro de Betancourt and another about Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera. Both stories emphasize transformation and contrasting elements. Asturias's main argument that he presents in “Guatemala” is that Guatemala is a nation built on nations and that change is possible .

Prieto interprets this first introduction to be about the reinstitution of the past culture and lost traditions . “Guatemala” can be understood as a personal declaration of its own aesthetic, since it is a text where, as in the buried and overlapping cities, everything is combined. This discursive strategy marks the complexity of Guatemalan identity that Asturias tried so fervently to understand and delineate in literary terms for most of his life .

Asturias presents himself at the end of the story. Upon arriving to the capital he exlaims, “Mi pueblo! Mi pueblo!” . Thus it is argued that this first story reveals Asturias' feelings of nostalgia .

Ahora que me acuerdo

This story serves as a second introduction and presents creation as an inseparable element of destruction. This is the first of seven legends that the figure Cuero de Oro will tell . Cuero de Oro is a mysterious character who has become the narrator of the legend . Cuero de Oro recounts the experiences of two elders, don Chepe and doña Tina, who are also mysterious figures . These elders speak of a tree that destroys the notion of time "At the beginning of the narrative (definitive version), the three initial paragraphs are in the present [tense], and then becomes the past tense once the story of Cuero de Oro...begins. This provokes a certain surprise, not to mention a certain...temporal confusion."

Leyenda del Volcán

Teaches that destruction is always followed by rebirth , meaning that the Mayan-quiche culture can be reborn. This section relates the origin of the people in Guatemala in "one day that lasted many centuries" . It begins with six men, three of whom appeared from the water and three of whom appeared from the wind . Asturias's emphasis on the number three throughout the legend is in reference to the number's importance in the nahual (Prieto, 55). The three men from the water nourish themselves with stars and those from the wind walk through the forest like bird-men . In addition to these men there are two gods, Cabrakán, who provokes earthquakes, and Hurakán, who is the giant of the winds and the spirit of the sky . Hurakán produces a tremor and all of the animals flee from the forest . One of the six men, who is named Nido (the word for "nest" in Spanish), is the only being that remains and is ordered by a trinity, consisting of a saint, white lily, and a child to build a temple . Afterward the trees begin to fill with nests, showing that the story exemplifies the process of renewal.

This legend narrates a clear struggle between religions. It contrasts Catholicism, with references to "little crosses" and the trinity, to the forces of Cabrakán and Hurakán, representing the Maya-quiche religion.

Leyenda del Cadejo

Illustrates how humanity is capable of overcoming oppression and it is situated in the 17th century . In the first paragraph we are presented with the protagonist, a beautiful novice at a convent who, “with time” will later become “Madre Elvira de San Francisco.” This character changes name various times in the story . The next several paragraphs are dedicated to describing the ambience of the convent that encircles her, subtly moulded by her emotional perspective...” She is plagued by her braid because it arouses a man. She is consequently mortified, and therefore she cuts the braid off, which turns into a snake. The snake coils around a candle, putting the flame out and sending the man to hell Preito shows that "...born out of temptation and ready to haunt humanity until the end of time - the 'Cadejo' comes to life" By ridding herself of the braid, Asturias demonstrates that "a human has the means to free themself from the yoke that binds it, no matter how oppressive" In this story there are frequent images of death and dead bodies, as well as magical happenings . In the last paragraph of the story it is unclear whether Asturias is indicating that the events were nothing more than a dream .

Leyenda de la Tatuana

Describes ways in which humanity can and will regain its freedom. The legend is about an almond tree, that is described as being a "priest-tree" . This tree guards the Maya traditions and recounts the passing of the years. The tree divides its soul between the four paths that one encounters before the underworld known as Xibalbá. These four paths are marked by different colors: green, red, white and black. Each portion of the soul embarks on a different path on which they each face temptations .

The black road, which in Mayan tradition leads to the underworld, Xibalbá, trades part of its soul with the merchant of Priceless Jewels for the most beautiful slave. The tree never gets to enjoy it because the roots of the tree en-captures him. Later, the slave and the tree are reunited but the Inquisition intervenes and sentences to kill them. In the end, they escape the night before their execution .

In this legend the Master Almond represents the Maya-quiche civilization and the inquisition represents foreign power . This legend shows that "the soul is not at the mercy of external forces" and "therefore humans always have the means to recover independence"

Leyenda del Sombreron

In this legend, Asturias takes the idea of the child/ demon and explores it through a lens of magic; he creates a ball which appears and disappears, in which he encloses a Sombreron/ devil.

This legend, like Leyenda del Cadejo, corresponds to the Spanish colonial period in Guatemala, and is written in a simple colloquial tongue . It is a legend that focuses on the Spanish and a Christian aspects of Guatemala and it takes place in the city of Antigua .

In this legend a monk becomes tempted by a ball that bounces through his window into his cell. He becomes enthralled by the ball and even begins to wonder if affiliated with the devil. After talking to a woman whose son has lost a ball, a ball their neighbors claims looks like the devil, he throws the ball out his window. The ball transforms into the Sombreron. Thus again, Asturias is showing that humans "are capable to breaking the ties that bind them to the undesirable"

Sáenz asserted in his book that the ball that the monk enjoys and plays with symbolized the Maya ball game. Thus, in this legend Christian and Maya traditions are combined which is seen in the example of the ball, an element of Maya ritual, but also has the characteristics of a devil. .

Leyenda del tesoro del Lugar Florido

This legend takes place at the time when the Spanish conquistadors arrive to Guatemala, while the natives celebrate the end of a war. This legend takes place near the Lago (lake) de Atitlán, where the zutuhil Maya live . Near this lake is a volcano named Abuelo del Agua , which means "grandfather of the water". This volcano hides the treasure from the bordering tribes who escaped from the plundering of the Spanish. The legend begins at twilight, which, according to Sáenz, can be seen as a comparison to the decline of the indigenous civilization . The end of the war is announced and a night-long celebration of peace ensues among the indigenous people in the story. There's a list of the squadrons of soldiers, and each one is distinguished by the colors of the feathers. The head of the local Maya brings together those who are to be sacrificed. The moment of destruction begins and the priests exclaim ritual sentences to the volcano, while the Spaniards ("white men") approach. The indigenous tribes are terrified and flee to the lake to protect themselves against the invasion, leaving the treasure behind.

Los brujos de la tormenta primaveral

This legend is an interpretation of the creation of the world by the work of gods, and contains many magical and symbolic elements . It is divided into six parts and it describes the mythological fights for the survival between the three kingdoms: animal, vegetable and mineral. Juan Poye is the protagonist of the legend and is a "man-river" that symbolizes fertility and the living .

The humans forget the rules of love and act cruelly. The river becomes a source of punishment for the immortal humans. All that remains at the end of the legend cities covered by the vegetation of the Quiché land.

Cuculcán

Is in the form of a play and was added to the legends in the second edition . The scenes are separated by colored curtains that indicate the passing of time. The curtain colors and scene changes follow the movement of the sun. The main character if Guacamayo, a bird of a thousand colors, who is deceitful . Guacamayo and Cuculcán, two bird-like gods, dispute the legend of the moon. Yaí is another character who is a "woman-flower" and is to be sacrificed.

Literary Analysis

Rene Prieto classifies Asturias' fiction as neo-Indigenista. His work is an evolution from Indigenista literature; literature defined by its critical stance against the European domination of Indians, however, literature that is still bound to an exotic, stereotypical portrayal of Indians that either leaves the Indians hopeless and dependent on Europeans or advocates change by becoming culturally mestizo In contrast, Asturias rethinks his stance and depicts native culture as a continuing, and integral facet of Guatemala To do this, Asturias tries to provide an accurate representation of Indian culture and thus bases his work on traditions and legends of his ancestors Prieto argues that Asturias takes elements from the traditional Indian culture “to demonstrate that the future of his country depends on the recognition and validation of the indigenous heritage” His writing style is unique because he incorporates both Western techniques with thematic and stylistic elements from native American literature

Asturias bases his work on traditions and legends of his ancestors and tries to provide an accurate representation of Indian culture Prieto argues that Asturias takes elements from the traditional Indian culture “to demonstrate that the future of his country depends on the recognition and validation of the indigenous heritage” His writing style is unique because he incorporates both Western techniques with thematic and stylistic elements from indigenous literature

In a chapter about the indigenous subject and modernity in Leyendas de Guatemala, author Frances Jaeger states that Asturias's Leyendas de Guatemala demonstrates how the study of myths from the past has helped form the national identity of Guatemala Specifically, according to Jaeger, Asturias's legends represent the European and Maya worldviews that compose Guatemala's identity. Jaeger refers to the critic Lois Parkinson Zamora, who considers Leyendas de Guatemala to be a work that shows an "anxiety of [cultural] origins" that requires Asturias to feel the need to fill the void of knowledge of indigenous culture by looking to the past In Leyendas de Guatemala, this anxiety has led to the creation of a narrative full of detailed language that incorporates the complexity and paradoxes of indigenous cultural origins Essentially, the indigenous, the colonial and the modern coexist equally in the legends Jaeger's analysis emphasizes that Leyendas de Guatemala promotes a dialogue between the separate indigenous and European cultural influences in Guatemala, instead of furthering the notion of cultural hybridity or mestizaje As society has evolved and technology has advanced, there's been a constant need to redefine indigenous culture in these changing contexts In this way, the development of the Guatemalan nation is shown through the telling of these various legends.

Form

Leyendas goes further than what is common for a book of short stories. Each story is a poem in prose form, united by a strong common denominator: a shared plane of fiction .

Leyendas de Guatemala has 2 introductions: Guatemala and Ahora me acuerdo, which serve two distinct purposes. Ahora me acuerdo introduces a narrator who is quite identifiable with the author, while Guatemala sets up the universe in which the legends are going to take place .

Los brujos de la tormenta primaveral, and Cuculcàn were added to Leyendas de Guatemala in the second edition which came out in 1948. While initially they appear to break the formal unity of Leyendas (Cuculcán is a piece which appears to be for theater), they follow the same stories and themes, and both appear to have been written prior to the publishing of the first edition of Leyendas

Themes

The Palimpsest Model

In the very first legend, Asturias claims that Guatemala was constructed over buried cities, one over the other, like a house with many floors. In a figurative sense this is actually a true fact, as Guatemalan culture can be seen as superposed over a Mayan heritage, in the ruins of the arrival of the Spanish. Indeed, it was directly over the ruins of Palenque and Copán that the Spanish cities were raised, creating something like a stratified tower of Babel. We may conjecture that the intent [of the actual form of the book] of Leyendas de Guatemala could have been to clearly emphasize the idea that between two introductory texts, the “legends” make up the central body of the book, and as such are “buried” (same as “the cities) and are for that reason a product of an indispensible cultural remembrance. The reason that Asturias presents Guatemala in this model of a palimpsest (a new culture imposed upon an older one which also sits atop an even older one, etc) is to make the point that in order to understand Guatemalan identity fully and in its entirety, one must combine all these levels and unite them as parts of a common Guatemalan narrative. This corresponds with Asturias' aim to use Leyendas in order to reinvent Guatemalan identity

The Hybrid Identity

Hybridity refers to modern Guatemalan identity as a mixture of Mayan and European cultures. Before the publication of Leyendas, the subject of a hybrid identity was mostly presented in a negative light, with books such as Mulata de tal (1963), in which they [persons of mixed blood] were portrayed as vile, thieving characters. With Leyendas, Asturias wanted to reevaluate these subjects previously marginalized or even invisible. He does so by uniting native and European elements. The legends of Sombrer[on and Tatuana and Cadejo existed in Mayan myth, but el Tesoro del Lugar Florido is certainly a new addition. But Asturias mixes these elements even within each legend; for example in the first tale the narrator is engaged in a native song and dance ritual, but what he sings are the vowels of the Latin alphabet, a-e-i-o-u. Also in Leyenda del Volcan, Asturias combined the original mythology of the flying beings which populated the land with calling it the land of trees, which is what those allied with the conquistadors had called Guatemala. In this sense, Leyendas can be viewed as a reaction against racial purification and in favor of a cultural conciliation represented by the hybrid identity, done so by balancing popular tradition with the presence of the pre-Hispanic world. Another example of such balancing is the legend of Sombrerón, which takes an original Mayan myth and re-tells it through a post-colonial Catholic lens.

Influences

European influences

Asturias studied in Paris from 1924 until 1933, which enabled him to observe Guatemala, his home country, from a distance. Here he also studied Mayan culture with Georges Raynaud, who, as his director, had a significant influence over his literary development. The teachings of Raynaud in particular, constituted for Asturias the revelation of a forgotten cultural root, unknown, almost to say “undervalued”. Of course, the process of becoming aware of cultural hybridization had begun before his arrival in Paris. The trip to Mexico that Asturias took in 1921 to the International Congress of Students, organized by the Mexican Federation of Students with the participation of Jose Vasconcelos, would be a definitive influence on Asturias’s ideas about meztizo cultures.

The First edition of Legends of Guatemala was published along with an extremely important piece of information: "Paris, 1925-1930". The indicated place and dates mark an epoch of aesthetic and ideological maturation in the literary experience of the author. At 25 years of age, Asturias had marched to Guatemala to reshape his own national identity and establish a personal connection with the written word

His time in Paris introduced Asturias to the surrealist movement. Asturias's writings are deeply influenced by the surrealist movement, and is most evident in his use of opposing and incongruous objects. Prieto contends that “surrealist use opposites to gain an openness to the world that will allow them to perceive the marvelous…, here the marvelous is that “this” is also “that.” In other words Guatemala cannot deny its roots even if the class in power refuses to recognize it”

Latin American influences

Equally important was Asturias’ involvement with the French based Latin Press Agency, or Prensa Latina, an activist group which fought for the “revitalization of ‘Latin’ power” . In March of 1928, Asturias voyaged to Havana, Cuba and fulfilled an important role as a participant in the Prensa Latina congress. In this city, which made an impression upon him as the “activist crossroads” of the world, he came into contact with members of the Cuban Avant-garde movement. Time spent in both France and Cuba introduced him to significant contacts and enabled Asturias to rethink the origins and identity of his country incorporating Mayan-quiche culture. Consequently, Asturias began to revise his opinion of the indigenous culture drastically. A rapid transformation in his work is seen when comparing Asturias’s dissertation, “El problema social del indio,” written in the 1920’s and “focused on “mestizaje’ or the support of foreign immigration to regenerate the Indian, and reeks with prejudices” to Leyendas de Guatemala, in the 1930’s, where Asturias values and admires the culture. Asturias goes so far to “cast himself the role of spokesman for the Indians” .

The book “La tierra del faisán y del venado” (in English: The Land of the Pheasant and the Deer) by Antonio Mediz Bolio is considered to be the most direct antecedent of Leyendas de Guatemala. Bolio fabricated an imagined country using fictive literature in which he mixed Mayan folk tales with elements of Hispanic modernism, much like what Asturias did later in 1930.

Maya-Quiche influences

Leyendas de Guatemala is largely based on Popol Vuh, an ancient text containing Mayan folklore tales. In 1927, Asturias, in collaboration with José María Gonzáles de Mendoza, worked on the translation of Popol Vuh, and as such became immersed in its legends. For example, “La leyenda de Tatuana” is based on the Quiché legend of Chimalmat, but re-written to incorporate the pre-Hispanic myth with the new anecdotes and characters of the Colonial era.

However some scholars argue that what really inspired Asturias is the evolvement of a hybrid, mixed-race nation, which needed a set of new and revised creation stories. This can be supported by the fact that he dedicated the book to his mother, who was also of mixed ancestry.

Criticism and Reception

Asturias received much criticism for his earlier essay "El problema social del indio" (1923), which saw no future for a Guatemalan identity based on its Mayan heritage, and encouraged a progressive ideology to take over. The criticism comes from the complete change of attitude which Leyendas de Guatemala seems to convey. Martin Lienhard argues that this former essay has become a dark spot in Asturias' past, which everyone seems to have forgotten once the author received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967. . He goes on to argue that the young Asturias made undeniably racist claims in this essay, which cannot be deleted, and Leyendas de Guatemala does not entirely break from such an attitude either. . Lienhard compares the way in which Asturias re-wrote the creation myths of Guatemala to Soviet educational propaganda, claiming that he progressively manipulated the culture and the collective memory of a people to serve the interest of a State. .

Asturias has been described as a "poet-author" whose unique literary abilities have created a narrative of the evolution of Guatemala in a way that traverses the boundaries of a poem, story, legend or work of prose After the book's publication in 1930 it was translated into French by Francis de Miomandre and won the Sylla Monsegur award . This translation also succeeded in gaining the admiration of Paul Valéry, who wrote a letter about Leyendas de Guatemala that has been used as a prologue to the book in certain editions.

Heninghan critiques the book, claimingit courts a European audience because the exoticism of Guatemala conforms to the Parisian expectation. Therefore Henighan thinks that Leyendas de Guatemala is both genuine and fake, Asturias accomplishment in creating the illusion of fiction entirely stimulated by the French audience expectation. Therefore the book is based in French Orientalist fantasies. However, Henighan claims that “Leyendas de Guatemala deforms the Orientalist assumption because here the ‘explorer’ transmitting the magical world back to the Parisian readers is a native Guatemalan himself.”

He says that Asturias uses strategies to persuade the validity and trustworthiness of his writing to European audience he targets; this is the reason he included pictures, the introductory preface by Paul Valéry, impersonal narration, and disclaimers such as ‘that no one believes the legends of the past.’ Henighan also argues that introduction which presents Guatemala as a palimpsest of times and civilizations produces an inherent subordination of Guatemala to Europe.

Henighan’s main argument is that the book presents the clash between Guatemala and Europe, and this mirror Asturias own conflict of identity. He says “Guatemala” focuses on alienation while “Ahora que me acuerdo” ends with confusion of estrangement from these myths. The five legends attempt to reconcile the tensions embodied in the books double introduction. “Syncretism, doubleness, heterogeneity are portrayed as inevitable human conditions” in the legends. He says that Asturias wants to demonstrate the impossibility of maintaining the purity of identity. Thus mestizaje, both racial and cultural seems to be unavoidable and desirable. The clash of cultural identity reaches its climax in the final story, “here the dynamics of doubleness becomes permeated with questions of cultural power” . He contends that Asturias becomes aware that two cultures will always collide and “the weaker culture will always be subjugated by the cultural dictates of the stronger”. The conquistadors causes the volcanic eruption and both groups become divided, yet not equal, This story represents Asturias accepting his Parisian self.

References

• Arias, Arturo (2000). “Quetzacóatl, la hibridación y la identidad indígena: Leyendas de Guatemala como laboratorio étnico”. In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Arredondo, Isabel (2000). "¡Abróchense los cinturones!: el viaje inconsciente en las Leyendas de Migues Angel Asturias." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• (de) Arrigoitia, Luis (1972?). "Leyendas de Guatemala" in Homenaje a Miguel Angel Asturias; variaciones interpretativas en torno a su obra. New York: Giacoman, Helmy F, Ed. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

• Asturias, Miguel (2000). "Leyendas de Guatemala"In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Barnabe, Jean-Philippe (2000). "La escritura de la leyendo asturiana: fragmentos de un historial." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Brotherson, Gordon (2000). "La herencia maya y mesoamericana en Leyendas de Guatemala." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Franco, Jean (1994). "An Introduction to Spanish-American Literature." (third ed. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, and |origdate= (help)

• Jaeger, Frances (2006). "El sujeto indigena y la modernidad en Leyendas de Guatemala y El espejo de Lida Sal." in Cien Anos de Magia: Ensayos criticos sobre la obra de Miguel Angel Asturias. Guatemala: F&G Editores. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Leal, Anabella Acevedo (2000). "De las Leyendas de Guatemala a El espejo de Lida Sal: el recorrido de una experiencia estética." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Collecion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Lienhard, Martin (2000). "Nacionalismo, modernismo y primitivismo tropical en las Leyendas de 1930." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Mejía, José (2000). "Complejidad y riqueza cultural del mundo mestizo en la obra de Asturias." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Prieto, Rene (2000). "La figuracion del surrealismo en las Leyendas de Guatemala." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Prieto, Rene (2000). "The tales that now no one believes: Leyendas de Guatemala." In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Sáenz, Jimena (1974). "Genio y Figura de Miguel Angel Asturias.". Buenos Aires: Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Solares-Lavarre, Francisco (2000). “El discurso del mito: respuesta a la modernidad en Leyendas de Guatemala” In Cuentos y leyendas. Barcelona: Coleccion Archivos. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)