UC Davis

Contemporary Chiapas Maya literature expresses a jaguar consciousness. The figure of the jaguar, from ancient glyphs to contemporary narratives, suggests a symbolic meaning of this sacred being as a communicant with the spirit world and a signifier of literacy. This dissertation shows how the jaguar in today’s Chiapas Maya narrative symbolizes a portal to other consciousnesses, something the power of words can also achieve, including written words whose lives may surpass those of their authors. Jaguars embody the expanse of the universe. As zoologist Alan Rabinowitz states, “The jaguar exploits virtually every dimension of its surroundings” (2014 170). Ancient Mayas felt a strong connection to the jaguar as a creature that helps maintain balance, transcending earth and sky, day and night, death and life. The twins Jun Ajpu and Xb’alanke, who die and come back to life in the K’iche’ Maya book Popol Wuj, carry a sense of jaguar identity, and they similarly transcend different levels of existence. The twins are said to be k’ab’awil, a word conveying the idea of two visions, a double gaze allowing them to see into other realms. Gloria Chacón examines k’ab’awil in her book Indigenous Cosmolectics, where she defines it, citing Guatemalan scholar Adrián Inés Chávez, as “two visions at the same time” or a “doble mirada / double gaze” (2018 15).My dissertation focuses on four prominent Chiapas Maya writers: Josías López Gómez (Tseltal), and Petrona de la Cruz Cruz, Nicolás Huet Bautista, and Mikel Ruiz (all Tsotsil). In his analysis of López Gómez’s novel Te’eltik ants/ Mujer de la montaña, Ruiz identifies the character Martín as a reflection of the author and sees Martín’s fictional death as a symbolic authorial suicide. The other three authors, including Ruiz himself, have engaged in similar symbolic suicide. Their later works, however, tend to explore more favorable outcomes. Analyzing their narratives in the context of growing Indigenous openness and engagement with worldwide political and academic discourse, I argue that like the Popol Wuj twins, the writers take on the role of expanding their consciousness and transcending death. In both their words and their actions, these Maya writers develop a k’ab’awil jaguar consciousness, providing the vision to show resurrected potential for maintaining Indigenous values in a changing world.