El Sombrerón in the oral tradition of Chiapas

• Main Author: María-Cruz La Chica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Jaén 2020-07-01
• Series: Boletín de Literatura Oral
• Subjects: oral tradition; mayan culture; hat; indigenous peoples
• Online Access: https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/blo/article/view/5465

With this work we have proposed to contribute to the literary heritage of oral tradition already recorded of the Mexican peoples and cultures of today with the publication of several stories and unpublished interviews conducted in 2019 in the region of the Altos de Chiapas around a character known as Sombrerón. The informants are speakers of the Tsotsil and Tzeltal languages (both from the Mayan family), in addition to Spanish. We have tried to limit as much as possible our margin of interpretation and to stick to the conclusions that can be drawn from the words of the narrators, as well as to respect as much as possible their mode of enunciation. We will introduce an ambivalent character who fulfils different functions that we could describe as "positive", such as being a protector of the mountain or a guardian of the seeds, but who can also pose enormous dangers for those who approach him. Our objective was to analyze the literary and cosmological imaginary that exists in different Chiapas cultural groups around the same figure of the oral tradition that goes beyond the limits of this region to highlight the permeable and itinerant potential of the oral tradition.