Songs That Make the Road Dance

Linda O’Brien-Rothe is an independent scholar who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from UCLA. She documented the “Songs of the Old Ones” from 1966 to 1975, and she has devoted the years since then to study and analysis of her large collection of music and of the belief systems and related survivals of music and oral literature of the highland Maya.

• Forewords Allen J. ChristensonSandra L. OrellanaAcknowledgementsIntroduction A Personal NoteResearch in Santiago AtitlÁnChapter 1. The World of the Tz'utujil Maya The World of Spirits "Song of the Spirit-Lord of the World" ("B'ix rxin Rajau Mund")Duality and Metaphor in the Santo MundoThe Presence of the NawalsChapter 2. The Dance and Songs of the Nawals Old Mam Creates the Recibos "Song of APla's Sojuel" ("B'ix rxin APla's Sojuel")Dance, Movement, and Songs: The Divine Currency of SacrificeDancing the Bundle of San MartÍn Midwife's Prayer and "Song of San MartÍn" ("B'ix rxin MartÍn")Rocking the Cradle of the Marias "Song of the Rocking Cradle"Dancing the Wind-Men and the Rain-MenRousing San MartÍn and the Spirit-Lords of Rain with Song "Song of MartÍn" ("B'ix rxin MartÍn")Calling the Spirits of the Dead and the Drowned with SongsChapter 3. The "Songs of the Road": Texts and Contexts The Road in the Tz'utujil Maya WorldOld Mam, the Guardian of the Road, Creates Music and Dance The "Songs of Mam" ("B'ix rxin Mam")The First and Second "Songs of the Road"The "Third Song of the Road": Songs of Courtship and Fertility "Songs of the Young Man" ("B'ix rxin C'jol")"Songs of the Young Girl" ("B'ix rxin K'poj")"AtPal": A Song of Courting"Songs of the Young Men and Young Girls, of Insults and Ridicule" ("B'ix rxin C'jola K'poja Xyo'k'a Xtz'u'ja")"Songs of the Old Maid"Witchcraft and Shapeshifters in the Songs "Songs of the Young Girl" ("B'ix rxin K'poj")The "Sad Songs" or "Tristes" "They Fought" ("Xqueti' qui'") "Sad Song of Our Fathers, Our Mothers" ("B'ix rxin Kadta, rxin Kate' Bis")"Songs of the Flowers and the Fruit"("B'ix rxin Cotz'ej, Sk'ul")Chapter 4. The Poetics of Tz'utujil Songs and Their Relationship to K'iche'an Literature The Poetics of the Popol VuhThe Poetics of Tz'utujil Song Texts ParallelismMeterOnomatopoeiaListsAssonance and AlliterationComposition of the Texts and the Influence of Musical RhythmChapter 5. The Music of the "Songs of the Nawals" Form and Style of the SongsThe "Recibos of Old Mam": The Vessel of Tz'utujil Culture The "Songs of Mam""Sad Song of the Young Man""Song of the Young Girl Who Says Goodbye to Her Mother""Song of the Old Maid" or "Song of the Road""Song of the Fruit"The Tz'utujil Guitar Historical Origins of the Tz'utujil GuitarTuningPlaying Style and TechniqueRepertoireHow the Songs Survived: The Process of Assimilation and TransmissionFinal WordsAudio Files of Recorded ExamplesNotesGlossaryWorks CitedIndex

"[A] new classic in the field of Mayan music studies." (Latin American Music Review) "[O'Brien-Rothe's research practices] allowed for a collaborative research approach that was not merely a mechanism to compensate for her language skills but a way to understand the broader uses and meanings of ritual language in songs." (Latin American Research Review)