Resistance through Revision in Javier Castellanos Martínez’s Cantares de los vientos primerizos

A study of the Mexican Zapotec novel, Wila che be ze lhao/Cantares de los vientos primerizos, by Javier Castellanos Martínez. This bilingual Zapotec/Spanish novel articulates a space for heterogeneity by demonstrating the power of literature as a device for resistance and cultural preservation, through the reaffirmation of Indigenous systems of ancient knowledges, including the five cardinal elements and language. Like many other works written by contemporary Indigenous authors, this novel inspires a revision of Indigenous subjectivities from both within and beyond non-native communities, on their own terms, in their own words.