Ch’ayemal nich’nabiletik / Los hijos errantes / The Errant Children

Download or read book Ch’ayemal nich’nabiletik / Los hijos errantes / The Errant Children written by Mikel Ruiz and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2023-05-01 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.