Jim C. Tatum, A Motif-Index of Luis Rosado Vega’s Mayan Legends. Folklore Fellows’ Communications No. 271. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia (Academia Scientiarum Fennica), 2000. xxxviii + 117 pp.

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Jim C. Tatum’s motif index of the Mayan legends present in two anthologies by Mexican-Yucatec author Luis Rosado Vega (1876_1958) is a worthy scholarly accomplishment that focuses attention on the rich heritage of an area of the world that is of increasing interest. In keeping with the historic-geographical approach to folklore studies, this volume is a welcome resource for generalists wishing to study connections among international folktales as well as for Mayanists conducting either archival research or fieldwork. Tatum’s Motif-Index can be divided into two main parts, an Introduction and the Index itself, with sections listing the abbreviations used, a bibliography and a general synopsis of the index separating these two parts; the Introduction provides biographical information on Rosado Vega, a discussion of the stories that were analyzed for this motif-index, and an explanation of the indexing system developed for this analysis, while the Index adapts the system established in Stith Thompson’s Motif Index of Folk Literature (1955_58) to Rosado Vega’s Mayan legends. This addition to the study of folktales suggests intra- and intercultural comparisons and directions for new studies.

Recognizing that scholarship on Mayan tales has not kept pace with the interest in the archaeological, architectural, scientific, and societal aspects of that culture, Tatum chose Rosado Vega’s El alma misteriosa del Mayab (1934) and Amerindmaya (1938) to begin closing the gap. The Mexican author himself directed his attention to the indigenous folklore only relatively late in life after pursuing several careers in fields related to teaching, politics and journalism; his earliest writings were heavily influenced by the Europeanized and sophisticated modernista trend that took hold in Latin American literature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When Rosado Vega’s focus shifted to more down-to-earth themes after the Mexican Revolution, it concentrated on the political and sociological issues concerning the plight of the Yucatec Indians; his interest in the Pre-Columbian culture emerged after his appointment to found and direct the State Museum of Archaeology in Merida, when he began collecting survivals of the ancient Mayan traditions.

A reading of Rosado Vega’s two books on Mayan legends and oral traditions will reveal that the stories are not direct transcriptions of oral tales but textualized recreations with ample personal interpretation: although recorded in Spanish rather than in Mayan language, Rosado Vega’s nationalistic pride and denouncement of the Spanish Conquest are prominent elements of the two anthologies. Because his ideology, education, early literary style and travels are referenced throughout, one must question the author’s impartiality when identifying his sources. Thus, Tatum is correct in indicating that Rosado Vega oversimplifies matters when he assigns pre-Columbian origins to the traditions in El alma misteriosa del Mayab and a post-Conquest genesis to those in Amerindmaya. Rosado Vega’s notions of genre are another problematic area by today’s definitions: while most of the tales do coincide with what is currently taken to mean legend, many of the tales bear resemblance to the European fairy tale and to moralizing fables. By placing the components of Rosado Vega’s two legend collections in the context of international motifs, Tatum finds a sensible response to these dilemmas of authenticity and hybridization.

As expected, Mayan rural life is reflected in the stories and motifs from nature abound: deer, birds, snakes, dogs, insects as well as more indigenous elements such as jaguars, monkeys, cenotes and ceibas. What may signal the truly distinctive traits of Rosado Vega’s legends are those motifs absent in Mayan lore but present in neighboring Latin American traditions and, inversely, the presence of a large percentage of previously unrecorded motif variations. The West Indian trickster anansi who takes on the form of a spider, for instance, is somewhat echoed in the Mayan cizin, a rather benign demon who may take many forms, but never that of a spider. The absence of folktales dealing with demigods, culture heroes, origins of people, quests, injunctions regarding eating and sexual conduct, humor, chance and tests of cleverness and honesty likewise suggest cultural specificity. Nevertheless, when pointing out that tales that reflect a Catholic influence show a low percentage of new motif variations, whereas those of more likely Amerindian origin tend to have higher percentages, Tatum rightly cautions that “it would seem, at best, to interpret these numbers only as indicators, nothing more” (p. xvii).

Tatum acknowledges the risks of applying a classification system designed for European folklore to non-European narratives. Thus, his classification system uses Thompson’s index as a foundation but it also accounts for motifs not listed in Thompson’s work, motifs not listed by Thompson but found in other sources, and differences in wording in motif listings through a system of asterisks, parentheses and brackets. On occasion, Tatum disregards the numerical designations of other existing motif indexes to incorporate some of his own making that more closely follow Thompson’s categories, especially in the “section D100_D199 Transformation: Man to Animal”. Tatum’s strategies for integrating motifs alien to Thompson’s system are thorough and his explanations clear, leaving little room for confusion when using this index.

A Motif-Index of Luis Rosado Vega’s Mayan Legends provides a glimpse of the content areas in the Mayan stories circulating early in the twentieth century. The observations in this work will no doubt inspire analyses of the indigenous vs. European elements of the modern Yucatec tradition with regard to theme, narrative structure, and world view, and theories to be confirmed by both fieldwork and bibliographic research.

Alicia Ramos

Hunter College, CUNY

FF Network No. 21
(March): 18-19

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