31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en)
(http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/)

13

ESSAY (/EN/GENRE/ESSAY)

An Introduction to Yucatec Maya

Literature
Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer (/en/author/silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer)

ESPAÑOL
(/ES/2018/MAYO/UNA-
INTRODUCCI%C3%B3N-
LA-LITERATURA-
MAYA-YUCATECA-DE-
SILVIA-CRISTINA-
LEIRANA-
ALCOCER)

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 1/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

Photo: Jorge Zapata, Unsplash.

Making a selection always implies leaving out certain names. For this dossier, I have chosen
quality poets whose work seldom appears in anthologies. Fortunately, the Yucatec Maya
language (or Peninsular Maya, as the writers of Quintana Roo and Campeche prefer it be
called) boasts a vigorous literary movement. It is only appropriate to recall those who began
this production and diffusion of texts written in Maya.

One pioneer in publishing his mother tongue was Domingo Dzul Poot, a renowned oral
storyteller. He published four bilingual books of stories from the oral tradition. The rst three
start with the Spanish version and continue to the Maya: Cuentos mayas I [Maya stories I]
(1985); Cuentos mayas II [Maya stories II] (1986), and Leyendas y tradiciones históricas
mayas: El adivino, Destrucción de la triple alianza [Historical Maya legends and traditions: the
seer, destruction of the triple alliance] (1987). His fourth book, U tsikbalo’ob le chiich ti’
yáabilo’ob ichil sajkab / Relatos que la abuela contaba a sus nietos en la cueva [Stories that
grandmother told her grandchildren in the cave] (Mérida: PACMYC, 2010) presents its stories
in Maya, followed by translations to Spanish.

In Valladolid, Yucatán, the association Mayao’on brought together professors who were
concerned by—and determined to reverse—the linguistic substitution proposed by the
educational policies of the Mexican state. For a long time, this group was directed by the great

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 2/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

teacher Bartolomé Alonso Caamal. Mayao’on became a Civil Association in 1991.

The Maya Language and Literature Program (founded in 1982 when José Tec Tun was
directing the Regional Union of Popular Cultures of Yucatán, under whose auspices the
workshop coordinated by Carlos Montemayor took place) assembled many important Maya
writers. This project produced three series in the Letras mayas contemporáneas
[Contemporary Maya letters] collection, the rst published between 1990 and 1992 by
Maldonado Editores and the Regional Union of Popular Cultures of Yucatán. It consisted of
eight books, four in Maya and their four translations into Spanish. In 1994 the second volume
appeared, nanced by the National Indigenist Institute and the Rockefeller Foundation,
including forty titles, with twenty in Maya and their corresponding versions in Spanish. In
1998, the third appeared, also nanced by the National Indigenist Institute and the
Rockefeller Foundation. A few of the authors included in the rst two series of the Letras
mayas contemporáneas collection were: María Luisa Góngora Pacheco, Andrés Tec Chí,
Santiago Domínguez Aké, Leovigildo Tuyub Collí, Lucila Caballero, José Manuel Tec Tun,
Martha Yam Sosa, Irene Dzul Chablé, Teresa Pool Ix, Roberta Ek Chablé, José Zi Keb, José
González, Juan Flores, Miguel Chac Nah, Benito Abán May, Vicente Canché Móo, and
Armando Dzul.

María Luisa Góngora has published Jo’op’éel baaxalo’ob / Cinco juegos tradicionales [Five
traditional games] (Mérida: Dirección General de Culturas Populares-URCPY, 1985), U
tzikbalilo’ob Oxkutzcab yetel Maní, Cuentos de Oxkutzcab y Maní [Stories of Oxkutzcab and
Maní]  (both in 1993, in the second series of the Letras mayas contemporáneas collection), U
kuul Duraasnoo (translation to Maya of El árbol de durazno [The peach tree] by Marco Tulio
Aguilera, a bilingual book illustrated by Soledad Velasco; S/L: Fonca, Colección del Rey Momo,
1996), and Chan moson / Pequeño remolino [Little whirlwind] (México: Sedesol-INI, 1998),
and for over twenty- ve years she has directed the Chan Dzunun theatre group of Oxkutzcab,
Yucatán.

Santiago Domínguez Aké, Carlos Armando Dzul Ek, and Jorge Echeverría Lope published in
the Letras mayas contemporáneas series in 1998. In 1992, Jorge Echeverría Lope won the
Itzamná State Prize for Literature in Maya Language for the novel Bukin-te nok’a (Ponte esta
ropa) [Put these clothes on]. This book’s title appears in Spanish on the cover, but, besides
that exception, it is published entirely in Maya (Mérida: ICY, 1993). In 2016, Carlos Armando
Dzul Ek’s book was republished by Sedeculta (Trilogía histórica maya/Óox éesajil maaya
ucha’antak ba’alo’ob [Maya Historical Trilogy]).

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 3/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

Another pole of literary production is Calkini, which has produced important poets, Maya as
well as mestizo. Waldemar Noh Tzec was the rst coordinator of bilingual workshops, in Maya
and Spanish, in the House of Culture of Calkini; Alfredo Cuevas Cob, Margarita Ku Xool, Silvia
Canché Cob, Andrés González Kantún, and Ernesto Rodríguez Moguel are a few of the
bilingual poets from Calkini who got their start in the early 1990s. The journals A Duras
páginas, Cal-K’in, K’in Lakam, Sonarte, and Uaualal/Páginas Sueltas feature their work.
Waldemar Noh Tzec and Briceida Cuevas Cob were published in the third series of Letras
mayas contemporáneas in 1998. The former is the author of the verse collection Noj Bálam /
El grande jaguar [The great jaguar]. Before that, Noh Tzec had published Canto disidente de
uno más que recorre el país a caballo [Dissident song of one more who crosses the country on
horseback] (Campeche: Instituto de Cultura de Campeche/Ayuntamiento de Calkiní, 1992).

In 1993, Valladolid, Yucatán experienced a resurgence with the Yaajal K’in Workshop, which
took place at the home of the professors Gertrudis Puch Yah and Santiago Arellano Tuz.
Túumben lool was the journal that brought to light texts by Flor Marlene Herrera, José
Eduviges Ucab Noh, Crisanto Kumul Chan, and Miguel Ricardo May May. Through the Ak’abil
Maya K’aytuukulo’ob (nights of Maya poetry) organized in open spaces (parks or the town
square), these authors brought their work to the community.

Halachó has produced several notable writers, among them Vicente Canché Canul and his son
Vicente Canché Móo. In 2008, the latter published U tsikbalil juntul chak nuxiib wíinik /
Leyenda del hombre colorado [Legend of the red man] (Mexico City: Sedesol-INI). U tuukul
mayab wíinik / La sabiduría del maya [The wisdom of the Maya] (México: Sedesol-INI, 1998) is
the book with which Vicente Canché Móo won rst place in the Itzamná State Contest of
Literature in Maya Language (1996). This author also published, in 2002, U tsikbalilo’ob
Mayab / Relatos del Mayab [Tales of Mayab] (Mérida: Indemaya); in 2004, Ma’ chéen
tsikbalo’obi’ / No son solo cuentos [They are not just stories] (Mérida: ICY); and in 2015,
Xéexet’alo’ob kuxtal / Retazos de vida [Bits of life] (S/L: Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo
de los Pueblos Indígenas, 2015).

Jorge Miguel Cocom Pech, a Maya researcher, poet, and storyteller now living in Mexico City,
in another favorite son of Calkini. His book Mukult'an in nool / Secretos del Abuelo
[Grandfather’s secrets] has been published in two bilingual, Spanish-Maya editions. (Mexico
City: UNAM/Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Quintana Roo, 2001; UNAM/Universidad
Autónoma de Chapingo /Ayuntamiento de Calkiní, 2006). Earlier, in 2000, it was published in
French translation (Montauban: Editions Réciproques). At the end of 2002, he occupied the
presidency of the Association of Indigenous Language Writers. In 2012, he published J-nool
Gregorioe’, juntúul miats’il maya / El abuelo Gregorio, un sabio maya [Grandfather Gregorio, a

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 4/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

Maya wise man] (Mexico City: Conaculta), and the following year, Lágrimas de oro: aquí, ¡no
hables maya! / K’aak’an, ya’ il icho’ob: Waye’ ¡ma’ a t’aan ich maya! [Golden tears: don’t speak
Maya here!] (Mexico City: Trillas/Conaculta).

The movement is so proli c that it has taken up theses and entire books. In 2008, a Maya
author received the highest honor for Mexican indigenous-language literatures for the rst
time: Wildernain Villegas for his verse collection U K’aay Ch’i’ibal / El canto de la estirpe [The
song of the lineage] (Mexico City: Conaculta, 2009). In 2014, among other titles, Felipe
Castillo Tzec’s Ix-Ts’akyaj / La yerbatera [The medicine man] was published (Mérida:
Sedeculta), a book with which he won the “Domingo Dzul Poot” State Prize for Narrative in
Maya Language in 2011, as well as the verse collection Ma’ayilo’obil Tuukul / Polvos del
pensamiento [Dusts of thought] by Manuel Ortiz Pacheco (Mérida: Sedeculta).

Fortunately, the participation of women in Maya poetry is increasing. In 2017, Sakalbil

woojo’ob / Palabras tejidas [Woven words] (Mérida: PACMYC) was published, a book compiled
by María Elisa Chavarrea Chin that brings together the production of twelve Maya women
authors, in prose as well as poetry. In 2018, Ruth Pérez Aguirre published Mujeres que no
callan, Yucatán / Ko’olelo’ob ma’ u chi’ob [Women who do not fall silent, Yucatán]
(Comalcalco: Ediciones htuRquesa Cartonera, 2018), which includes the work of twenty-one
women writers. Two among them, Marga Beatriz Aguilar Montejo and Ana Patricia Martínez
Huchim, write their texts in Maya and Spanish.

To widen your knowledge of literature in Maya languages, please see:

Frischmann, Donald and May May, Miguel (editors). U túumben k’aayilo’ob x - ya’axche’/Los
nuevos cantos de la ceiba. Antología de escritores mayas contemporáneos de la Península de
Yucatán (Volume II, Mérida: Sedeculta/Conaculta, 2015).

Leirana Alcocer, Silvia Cristina. Catálogo de textos mayas publicados entre 1990 y 2009
(bibliografía comentada). Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán/Consejo para la Cultura y
las Artes, 2010).

Ligorred Perramon, Francesc. U maayathanoob ti dzib/Las voces de la escritura. Mérida:

UADY, 1997.

Montemayor, Carlos y Donald H. Frischmann (editors). U túumben k’aayilo’ob x -

ya’axche’/Los nuevos cantos de la ceiba. Antología de escritores mayas contemporáneos de la
Península de Yucatán. Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán/Consejo para la Cultura y las
Artes, 2009.

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 5/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

Ortega Arango, Oscar. Tradición y renovación. Literatura maya yucateca contemporánea.

(Hamburgo: Estudios Mesoamericanos, 2010).

Vadillo Buen l, Carlos. “Tierra encendida: la literatura en Campeche” en Encia Verduchi

(editor), Campeche: 150 años de creación artística, Ciudad de México: Secretaria de Cultura de
Campeche/Conaculta, 2015: 94-133.

Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer is a professor and researcher at the Universidad

Autónoma de Yucatán. Her research interests include contemporary Mexican, Maya,
and mestizo literature and transdiscursivity in film and literature. Her
book Conjurando el silencio: Algunos aspectos de la diversidad literaria [Summoning
silence: some aspects of literary diversity] appeared in 2005, and her Catálogo de
textos mayos publicados entre 1990 y 2009 [Catalogue of Maya texts published
between 1990 and 2009] was published in 2011. Her writing has appeared in
publications including El Diario del Sureste, Tiempo Libre, Tierra Adentro, Navegaciones ZUR, and Revista de la
Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, as well as various anthologies. She currently teaches courses dedicated to
the literature of the indigenous peoples of America, and particularly the Maya literature of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Arthur Malcolm Dixon is co-founder, lead translator, and Managing Editor of Latin American Literature Today. He
has translated the novels Immigration: The Contest by Carlos Gámez Pérez and There Are Not So Many Stars by
Isaí Moreno (Katakana Editores), as well as the verse collection Intensive Care by Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza
(Alliteratïon). He also works as a community interpreter in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a 2020-2021 Tulsa Artist
Fellow (https://www.tulsaartistfellowship.org/).

Recommended Reading:
"Imagined Lands" by Eduardo Berti (/en/2020/november/imagined-lands-eduardo-berti)
"The Silence Guard" by Manuel Iris (/en/2020/november/silence-guard-manuel-iris)
"Why Poems in Times Without Poetry? Notes for the Reconsideration of Poetic Form" by Micaela Paredes
Barraza (/en/2020/november/why-poems-times-without-poetry-notes-reconsideration-poetic-form-micaela-
paredes)
"The Craft of Suspicion: The Essay in the Social Sciences" by Ricardo Forster (/en/2020/november/craft-
suspicion-essay-social-sciences-ricardo-forster)
"Continuity through the Word: Renovation and Tradition in Javier Sologuren" by Renato Guizado Yampi
(/en/2020/august/continuity-through-word-renovation-and-tradition-javier-sologuren-renato-guizado-yampi)

Maya (/en/tags/maya) Mexico (/en/tags/mexico) Indigenous Lit (/en/tags/indigenous-lit)

LANGUAGES

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 6/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

ESPAÑOL (/ES/2018/MAYO/UNA-INTRODUCCI%C3%B3N-LA-LITERATURA-MAYA-YUCATECA-DE-
SILVIA-CRISTINA-LEIRANA-ALCOCER)

CURRENT ISSUE (/EN/ERROR-PAGES/LATIN-AMERICAN-LITERATURE-TODAY-VOL-2-NO-1)

(/en/2018/may)
Number 6
LALT No. 6 goes from the gripping true stories of literary journalism to the
strange worlds of fantastic short stories and graphic literature. We highlight
chronicles by Colombian journalist Alberto Salcedo Ramos, speculative
ction in a dossier curated by Mexican writer Alberto Chimal, and Yucatec
Maya poetry and prose in our ongoing Indigenous Literature series. 

Table of Contents
EDITOR'S NOTE

TRANSLATION PREVIEWS AND NEW RELEASES

FEATURED AUTHOR: ALBERTO SALCEDO RAMOS

AUTOR DESTACADO: ALBERTO SALCEDO RAMOS

DOSSIER: SPECULATIVE FICTION

DOSSIER: FICCIÓN ESPECULATIVA

DOSSIER: NARRATIVA GRÁFICA

DOSSIER: GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

ESSAYS

FICTION

DOSSIER: JORGE ENRIQUE LAGE

INTERVIEWS

LITERATURA INDÍGENA
www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 7/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

INDIGENOUS LITERATURE

DOSSIER: VENEZUELAN POETRY

POETRY

NOTA BENE

BOOK REVIEWS

Caja de fractales by Luis Othoniel Rosa

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/caja-de-fractales-luis-othoniel-
rosa)

De viaje por Europa del Este by Gabriel García Márquez

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/de-viaje-por-europa-del-este-
gabriel-garc%C3%ADa-m%C3%A1rquez)

Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/die-my-love-ariana-harwicz)

Mala suerte de mi vida by Z. Ferro

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/mala-suerte-de-mi-vida-z-ferro)

La invención de la novela contemporánea: tributo a Mario Vargas Llosa by Gladys Flores

Heredia (http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/la-invenci%C3%B3n-
de-la-novela-contempor%C3%A1nea-tributo-mario-vargas-llosa-gladys-flores-heredia)

Extrañeza by Rodrigo Arriagada-Zubieta

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/extra%C3%B1eza-rodrigo-
arriagadazubieta)

Estrategias de combate by E.S. Ortiz González

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/estrategias-de-combate-es-
ortiz-gonz%C3%A1lez)

Libro de conjuros by Emiliano Orlante

(http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/libro-de-conjuros-emiliano-
orlante)

Dreaming America: Voices of Undocumented Youth in Maximum-Security Detention by Seth

Michelson (http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/dreaming-america-
voices-undocumented-youth-maximumsecurity-detention-seth-michelson)

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 8/9
31/1/2021 "An Introduction to Yucatec Maya Literature" by Silvia Cristina Leirana Alcocer | Latin American Literature Today

POPULAR TAGS
Mexico (/en/tags/mexico) Indigenous Lit (/en/tags/indigenous-lit) Argentina (/en/tags/argentina)
Venezuela (/en/tags/venezuela) Translation (/en/tags/translation) Chile (/en/tags/chile)
Mapuche (/en/tags/mapuche) Colombia (/en/tags/colombia) Science Fiction (/en/tags/science-fiction)
Maya (/en/tags/maya) Cuba (/en/tags/cuba) Short Fiction (/en/tags/short-fiction) Peru (/en/tags/peru)
Feminist Lit (/en/tags/feminist-lit) Graphic Lit (/en/tags/graphic-lit) Brazil (/en/tags/brazil)
Chronicle (/en/tags/chronicle) Borders (/en/tags/borders) Queer Lit (/en/tags/queer-lit)
Guatemala (/en/tags/guatemala)

Latin American Literature Today

University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval
Kaufman Hall, Room 105
Norman, OK 73019-4037

Accessibility (http://www.ou.edu/publicaffairs/WebPolicies/accessstatement.html)
Sustainability (http://www.ou.edu/green/)
HIPAA (http://ouhsc.edu/hipaa/)
OU Job Search (http://www.hr.ou.edu/employment/)

Policies (http://www.ou.edu/content/web/landing/policy.html)
Legal Notices (http://www.ou.edu/content/web/landing/legalnotices.html)
Copyright (http://www.ou.edu/publicaffairs/webpolicies/copyright.html)
Resources & Offices (http://www.ou.edu/content/web/resources_offices.html)

Updated 01/31/2021 11:05:41

www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/2018/may/introduction-yucatec-maya-literature-silvia-cristina-leirana-alcocer 9/9