This is a study of folktales, referred to by the people as cuentos (stories), from the town of San AgustÃn Oapan in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. The study takes a close look at the function of folktales in the contemporary Indian community and how it compares to the function of myths in the pre-Hispanic past, explains why there was a decline from mythology to folklore, why the folktales are syncretic entities, and why there are similarities and differences found among them; including in their themes.
It also looks to understand why the same folktales are not told among different families, examines the linguistic framing and performance of the folktales, determines their cultural relevance to the contemporary Indian community, and explains what they say about the indigenous way of life in Mexico.
Folktales from six different Oapanec families were collected in Oapan Nawa and Spanish, translated into English, and examined. Oapan folktales are unique because they are not shared between families, but do contain common themes. Some of the folktales illustrate, through there overlapping themes, characteristics of European fables which are a direct reflection of contact with the Spaniards and their religion (Catholicism), while maintaining certain aspects of the pre-Hispanic mythological tradition.
The goal of the study was to determine what if any specific links, cultural or religious, the contemporary Oapanec folktales have to pre-Hispanic Mexica-Tenochca mythology from before and up to the early 16th century.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12012010-081338 |
| Date | 30 January 2011 |
| Creators | Michel de Guerrero, Joanne |
| Contributors | Hugo G. Nutini, Andrew J. Strathern, Joseph S. Alter, Terrence Kaufman |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12012010-081338/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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