Songs of Dzitbalche
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The [Book of the] Songs of Dzitbalché (Spanish: [El libro de] los cantares de Dzitbalché) is the source of almost all the ancient Mayan lyric poems that have survived, and is closely connected to the Books of Chilam Balam, sacred books of the colonial Yucatec Maya. The sole surviving copy of the Songs of Dzitbalché was written in alphabetic Mayan in the 1700s. The author identifies himself as Ah Bam (“Mr. Jaguar”), an elder of the town of Dzitbalché. He appears to say that the book was originally written in the year 1440. Manuscripts of this era were often copies of copies of copies, so scholars have to look at internal evidence for clues to the original date of composition. Many of the poems appear to be much older than the manuscript, and contain ancient ceremonial and ritual material. Other poems are songs of love, philosophy, and spirituality. Many of them appear to have had a musical accompaniment. Originally titled The Book of the Dances of the Ancients, the current title was given to it by its first translator.
[edit] References
- Barrera, Lourdes (1999). En el teatro prehispánico se funden dos mundos: la magia del color de las flores, de los animales, y la magia del perdón. Sala de Prensa, Noticias del día (26 February 1999). Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. (Spanish)
- Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo; (Ed. and trans.) (1965). El libro de los cantares de Dzitbalché, Serie de Investigaciones, 9.. México DF: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. (Yucatec Maya)(Spanish)
- Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo; (Ed. and trans.) (1979-81). El libro de los cantares de Dzitbalché: Una traducción fiel de los Documentos. Mérida: Ediciones del Ayuntamiento de Mérida, Yucatán. (Yucatec Maya) (Spanish)
- Bolles, David; and Alejandra Bolles (2004). A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language (revised online edition, 1996 Lee, New Hampshire). Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI). The Foundation Research Department. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
- Cocom Pech, Jorge Miguel (1999). "La literatura maya contemporánea en la Península de Yucatán", in Lorraine A. Williams-Beck (ed.): Calkiní: Una historia compartida, online extract at calkini.net, Campeche: H. Ayuntamiento de Calkiní, Ediciones Nave de Papel. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. (Spanish)
- Curl, John (Ed. and trans.) (2005). Ancient American Poets. Tempe AZ: Bilingual Review Press. ISBN 1-931-01021-8.
- Edmonson, Munro S. (1982). "The Songs of Dzitbalche: A Literary Commentary". Tlalocan 9: pp.173–208. ISSN 0185-0989.
- Garza, Mercedes de la; Miguel León Portilla, and Adrián Recinos (eds.) (1980). Literatura maya. Caracas: Biblioteca Ayacucho. ISBN 84-4991-302-0. (Spanish)
- Tun Chuc, Jorge Jesús (2005). Dzitbalché en la historia. Municipio - Dzitbalché. calkini.net. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. (Spanish)
- Valencia Solanilla, César (2001). "Los cantares de Dzitbalché: Los rituales del amor y de la muerte". Revista de Ciencias Humanas 27 (Nov. 2001): pp.41–47. ISSN 0121-9677. (Spanish)
