In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature, Pre-Columbian to the Present

The first anthology in any language to represent the full trajectory of this remarkable literature. From new interpretations of the glyphic writings of the Maya through the poetic response to events in modern Chiapas, here is a history of Mexico and Central America from the Indian point of view. In these pages the reader will encounter, often in new translations, the deeply affecting Aztec poems, the horrific battles of conquest, and the thoughtful philosophy of the Mayan "bible," the Popol Vuh. Full, clear introductions make this extraordinary material accessible to all readers. In the Language of Kings is a gemstone of cultural strength for those who trace their ancestry to Mesoamerica, as well as an essential resource for historians and anthropologists. Above all, it is literature: intimate, grand, painful, proud, and finally renascent in the new awakening of the original peoples of Mesoamerica. "[A] magnum opus of Mesoamerican literature. . .achieve[s] nothing less than the human and divine." -Bomb

Literature & Fiction

LEÓN-PORTILLA, MIGUEL

History & Criticism

W.W.Norton&Company

xxiii + 241 pp. with 4 illus. &amp; 8 plates, 1 map, 8vo.

Aztec Thought and Culture (Civilization of American Indian)

University of Oklahoma Press

This volume presents ancient Mexican myths and sacred hymns, lyric poetry, rituals, drama, and various forms of prose, accompanied by informed criticism and comment. The selections come from the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Mixtecs and Zapotecs of Oaxaca, the Tarascans of Michoacan, the Otomís of central Mexico, and others. They have come down to us from inscriptions on stone, the codices, and accounts written, after the coming of Europeans, of oral traditions. It is Miguel León-Portilla’s intention "to bring to contemporary readers an understanding of the marvelous world of symbolism which is the very substance of these early literatures." That he has succeeded is obvious to every reader.

Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico (Volume 92) (The Civilization of the American Indian Series)

Dramas & Plays

In this second English-language edition of one of his most notable works, Miguel LeÃ³n-Portilla explores the Maya Indiansâ€™ remarkable concepts of time. At the bookâ€™s first appearance Evon Z. Vogt, Curator of Middle American Ethnology in Harvard University, predicted that it would become "a classic in anthropology," a prediction borne out by the continuing critical attention given to it by leading scholars.Like no other people in history, the ancient Maya were obsessed by the study of time. Their sages framed its cycles with tireless exactitude. Yet their preoccupation with time was not limited to calendrics; it was a central trait in their evolving culture.In this absorbing work LeÃ³n-Portilla probes the question, What did time really mean for the ancient Maya in terms of their mythology, religious thought, worldview, and everyday life? In his analysis of key Maya texts and computations, he reveals one of the most elaborate attempts of the human mind to penetrate the secrets of existence.

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya (Civilization of the American Indian) (English and Spanish Edition)

Science & Math

Univ of Oklahoma Pr

In this second English-language edition of one of his most notable works, Miguel León-Portilla explores the Maya Indians’ remarkable concepts of time. At the book’s first appearance Evon Z. Vogt, Curator of Middle American Ethnology in Harvard University, predicted that it would become "a classic in anthropology," a prediction borne out by the continuing critical attention given to it by leading scholars. Like no other people in history, the ancient Maya were obsessed by the study of time. Their sages framed its cycles with tireless exactitude. Yet their preoccupation with time was not limited to calendrics; it was a central trait in their evolving culture. In this absorbing work León-Portilla probes the question, What did time really mean for the ancient Maya in terms of their mythology, religious thought, worldview, and everyday life? In his analysis of key Maya texts and computations, he reveals one of the most elaborate attempts of the human mind to penetrate the secrets of existence.

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya (Volume 190) (The Civilization of the American Indian Series)

History

Americas

Biographies of 15 composers of Nahuatl verse and analyses of their work are followed by their extant poems in Nahuatl and in English translation. The poets 14 men and one woman lived in the central highlands of Mexico during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. A remarkable window into the heart and mind of pre-Columbian Mexico. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World

Poetry

Who were the poets of Mexico in the days of Aztec splendor? What were the poems of a culture so different from our own?
In this first English-language translation of a significant corpus of Nahuatl poetry into English, an expansion of his classic Trece poetas del mundo azteca, Miguel León-Portilla was assisted in his rethinking, augmenting, and rewriting in English by Grace Lobanov. Biographies of fifteen composers of Nahuatl verse and analyses of their work are followed by their extant poems in Nahuatl and in English.
The poets - fourteen men and one woman - lived in the central highlands of Mexico and spoke Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, Texcocans, Tlaxcalans, and several other chiefdoms. These authors of "flower and song" (a Nahuatl metaphor for poetry, art, and symbolism) lived during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Sources for the poems included indigenous "codices," books of songs" now unfortunately lost, and renditions of them preserved by the Nahuatl oral tradition, which survived the Spanish Conquest and were recorded by several young natives in two manuscripts.

He was sent from Spain on a religious crusade to Mexico to “detect the sickness of idolatry,” but Bernardino de Sahagún (c. 1499-1590) instead became the first anthropologist of the New World. The Franciscan monk developed a deep appreciation for Aztec culture and the Nahuatl language. In this biography, Miguel León-Portilla presents the life story of a fascinating man who came to Mexico intent on changing the traditions and cultures he encountered but instead ended up working to preserve them, even at the cost of persecution. Sahagún was responsible for documenting numerous ancient texts and other native testimonies. He persevered in his efforts to study the native Aztecs until he had developed his own research methodology, becoming a pioneer of anthropology. Sahagún formed a school of Nahua scribes and labored with them for more than sixty years to transcribe the pre-conquest language and culture of the Nahuas. His rich legacy, our most comprehensive account of the Aztecs, is contained in his Primeros Memoriales (1561) and Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España (1577). Near the end of his life at age 91, Sahagún became so protective of the Aztecs that when he died, his former Indian students and many others felt deeply affected. Translated into English by Mauricio J. Mixco, León-Portilla’s absorbing account presents Sahagún as a complex individual–a man of his times yet a pioneer in many ways.

Bernardino de Sahagun: First Anthropologist

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

In this second English-language edition of one of his most notable works, Miguel LeÃ³n-Portilla explores the Maya Indiansâ€™ remarkable concepts of time. At the bookâ€™s first appearance Evon Z. Vogt, Curator of Middle American Ethnology in Harvard University, predicted that it would become "a classic in anthropology," a prediction borne out by the continuing critical attention given to it by leading scholars.
Like no other people in history, the ancient Maya were obsessed by the study of time. Their sages framed its cycles with tireless exactitude. Yet their preoccupation with time was not limited to calendrics; it was a central trait in their evolving culture.
In this absorbing work LeÃ³n-Portilla probes the question, What did time really mean for the ancient Maya in terms of their mythology, religious thought, worldview, and everyday life? In his analysis of key Maya texts and computations, he reveals one of the most elaborate attempts of the human mind to penetrate the secrets of existence.

Time and reality in the thought of the Maya

Beacon

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Books by LEÓN-PORTILLA, MIGUEL

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by LEÓN-PORTILLA, MIGUEL. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature, Pre-Columbian to the Present

Aztec Thought and Culture (Civilization of American Indian)

Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico (Volume 92) (The Civilization of the American Indian Series)

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya (Civilization of the American Indian) (English and Spanish Edition)

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya (Volume 190) (The Civilization of the American Indian Series)

Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World

Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World

Bernardino de Sahagun: First Anthropologist

Bernardino de Sahagun: First Anthropologist

Time and reality in the thought of the Maya