Full Description
Mikel Ruiz's The Errant Children, the first novel published in the Tsotsil Maya language, offers a bold and unflinching portrayal of contemporary Maya life in Chiapas, México. Pedro Ton Tsepente' has a position in his village's traditional council, but rather than taking just a few ceremonial drinks, he becomes an alcoholic, subject to blackouts and delirium tremens. His wife, Pascuala, rages at God to step in and change her husband's behavior, taking extreme measures when He does not. Their neighbor, seventeen-year-old Ignacio Ts'unun, learns about gender relations by watching television programs where beautiful women are lighter-skinned and about sex by watching pornography, which leads to disastrous choices. These characters' suffering comes not from conquerors, missionaries, or settlers but from invasive economic and cultural forces that can make Indigenous people devalue themselves. Do not expect to be uplifted, but do prepare to be astonished.
Contents
Introduction
Sean S. Sell
Foreword to the Original Edition
Ch'ayemal nich'nabiletik: bijil ts'ibajel mu'yuk yelanil
Los hijos errantes: literatura sin adjetivos
The Errant Children: Literature without Adjectives
Alejandro Aldana Sellschopp
English translation by Sean S. Sell
Ch'ayemal nich'nabiletik
Los hijos errantes
The Errant Children
Afterword: The Function of Racism in Colonialized Spaces
Arturo Arias
