Parallel Worlds: Genre, Discourse, and Poetics in Contemporary, Colonial, and Classic Maya Literature

3. Poetic Tenacity: A Diachronic Study of Kennings in Mayan Languages

73 Poetic Tenacity A Diachronic Study of Kennings in Mayan Languages Kerry M. Hull 3 The poetic and literary aspects of Maya hieroglyphic texts are just beginning to come into focus. In this chapter I trace the diachronic use of one of the most elegant poetic forms among the Maya: the diphrastic kenning—the pairing of two distinct elements to produce a metaphorical, more abstract third concept . I investigate the use and meanings of fourteen specific kennings/pairings found in Maya hieroglyphic writing that have attested counterparts in Colonial period documents or modern Mayan languages. This comparative analysis sheds light on both Maya conceptual patterning based on selectively paired lexical items and the interpretation of such kennings over time. I also argue that diphrastic kennings, firmly entrenched in the parallelistic structuring, allow us to definitively posit the presence of a poetic tradition at least as far back as the Early Classic period that has continued unabated to modern times. 3 74 Kerry M. Hull Literary Features of Mayan Languages The preferred vehicle for literary expression among all modern Mayan languages is paralleled discourse. Quite simply, parallelism defines poetic or ornate discourse in the minds of the Maya themselves. Within its seemingly strict confines , the Maya are able to elaborate profoundly complex cultural knowledge by means of associative connections. Exploiting these relationships—whether complementary, contrastive, or otherwise—Maya poetics operate at times outside the boundaries of the line, usually showing their true literary qualities only when in juxtaposition. The most immediate manifestation of such unions is the couplet, long recognized as a key component of literary speech among the Maya (Bricker 1974; Edmonson 1982, 2008 [1986]; Gossen 1974, 2002; Monod Becquelin 1979; Tedlock 1983; Vapnarsky 2008). Parallelismus membrorum (parallelism of members ) is the very essence of most Maya literary forms and the most prevalent rhetorical device found among all modern-day Maya groups, both in ritual and quotidian speech (Josserand and Hopkins 1998). However, in modern Mayan languages a general adage applies: the more formal the discourse, the more parallel structures appear. In fact, in the case of the Maya there is an unequivocal link between the frequency of parallelisms and the formality of the discourse. Indeed, the abundant couplet structures of Maya ritual speech have been aptly described as “coercive” (Edmonson 2008 [1986]: 17). Allen Christenson (this volume) also notes that chiastic structures most commonly appear in early post-Colonial K’iche’ writings when their authors are from ruling lineage dynasties, suggesting that expert use of highly paralleled forms was a prerequisite of rulers’ speech. According to William Hanks (2000: 114), the presence of abundant parallelisms “authenticates the identity of the signatories as genuine Maya nobles.” This is, however, not to say that all informal speech is devoid of such features (cf. Brody 1993; Christenson 2007: 50), only that there is an overwhelming tendency toward increased “poetic-ness” in formal situations and among religious and political leaders. It is undoubtedly on ritual and other formal speech occasions where the full flowering of parallel structures can be found among the Maya (Gossen 2002: xlvi; Hull 2003). Producing well-formed parallelisms, however, is not as easy as one might imagine. Years of careful learning and a high metalinguistic awareness of what constitutes a proper associative relationship among terms are usually necessary . In the case of the Tzotzil, a poor selection of terms in a parallelism would, according to Gary Gossen, “render a given performance weaker” (1974: 398). In the case of the Ch’orti’ Maya, for example, many of my consultants stress the importance of knowing “the right kind” of word to select in the latter stichs of a parallelism to avoid “infelicitous” pairings (Hull 2003: 376). Both knowing which word combinations are acceptable and understanding the metaphorical 75 Poetic Tenacity extensions that often accompany such groupings are crucial elements in one’s communicative competence in many Maya societies. The Tzotzil speakers of Zinacantan, according to Victoria Bricker, do not overtly discuss or define what “formal” or “informal” speech is, though they use couplets in various discourse situations. Bricker further notes that “what serves as the criterion for classification at this level is the value judgment in terms of good (lekil) and bad (copol), formal speech genres being considered ‘good’ and informal ‘bad’” (1974: 377). This native-speaker understanding of what constitutes an appropriate pairing also allows us to peer into the conceptual psyche of the Maya to gain insights...