Definition of Nahuatl Literature

Anani Hernandez Velazquez
Lic. in Hispanic Language and Literature

Nahuatl literature is the set of compositions that were produced in this language before or during the period of conquest, and which are preserved today thanks to oral tradition and the original work of religious missionaries.

The small letters printed on the Mexican 100-peso bill, which circulates less and less, are one one of the most popular contributions and have been attributed to Nezahualcóyotl, the most representative poet of this literature. He fragment It is classified within the cuícatl, which is the name of one of the two genres of Nahuatl literature and the one that refers to poetry or song, the other is the tlahtolli that today we would understand as prose or speech.

Cuícatl and tlahtolli genera

But what was poetry in the Nahuatl culture? What meaning did the word have for Mesoamerican man? There were several types of in xóchitl, in cuícatl, flower and song, characterized mainly by diphrasisms and parallelisms; the former condense broad ideas into brief words, the latter repeat the same syntactic structure with the alteration of some element.

Regarding the types of in xóchitl, in cuícatl we have 7: the teotlatolli that dealt with the origin of the world and the designation of the gods; the teocuícatl that were to exalt the gods; the xopancuícatl who were towards life and happiness; the xochícuicatl who spoke about goodness and brotherhood (an example is Nezahualcóyotl with the song cited above); the yahocuícatl that were songs of war; the icnocuícatl that translates as sad songs; and the cuecuechcuícatl, regarding the provocation.

As an example of the tlahtolli, it is found in the Teoamoxtli or Divine Book of Origins, in it is the myth of "The suns or ages that have existed", it can be seen that from the thought Nahuatl the world had already existed several times and that the end of each one required destruction –this is explained by natural phenomena and the way they perceived time–. In this sense, the interpretation for the time of the Mesoamerican peoples was cyclical but changing, a bit like a spiral.

In "The suns or ages that have existed" the first stanza says:

The repetitive figure in Nahua writings is very common, a kind of anaphora that builds a deep narrative that gives meaning, not only to the myth, but to the wide variety of stories that were transmitted orally, just like the rest of the ancient literatures in the world.

Examples that reflect the history lived by a culture

What happened with the arrival of the conquistadors? The songs were for the Nahua lawyers a way of expressing themselves before the events, the icnocuícatl or sad songs began to make real sense. Not only were myths written and recounted about the origin, but also about the fall of the Aztec empire, omens that disturbed the minds of the settlers and, especially, of Moctezuma, the last emperor Aztec. He and Cortés have gone down in history as adversaries, the latter with the help of a well-known native: "La Malinche" who in Mexico is the personification of betrayal, even the adjective "malinchista" designates that person who rejects what is their own and prefers what is foreign. One of the omens that draws a lot of attention:

What is known today as "The Legend of La Llorona" has been rescued since those days. It is a symbol of identityundeniably Mexican; which, although today it has received “terrifying” overtones, exposes the restlessness of the indigenous peoples, in which a mother cried out for the loss of her children.

In the face of wars, the Mexicas remained brave, but pain and anguish were stronger. It is noted in the following sad song that reflects the anxiety of the natives in a poem called "The last days of the site of Tenochtitlan":

Much was destroyed, the survivors had to adapt to the new traditions, some missionary friars promoted the combination of customs and ways of life. There was an undeniable religious fusion, linguistics, social and cultural that until now is preserved. Nahua thought has sought to survive in the language, in the worldview of indigenous peoples and their traditions.

The most relevant exponents of Nahuatl literature are Nezahualcóyotl and Nezahualpilli, both were tlatoanis (rulers of the empire), father and son, since not all of them were qualified to write, philosophize, poetize. It was in orality, in myths and in everyday life that many of the creations that today were transmitted were transmitted. We do not know the specific authors, but they were the identity of a people that is the support of the identity mexican.

Consulted bibliography

Garibay Kintana, A. M., & Leon-Portilla, M. (2015). Vision of the defeated. Indigenous relations of the conquest. Mexico: UNAM.