The Yucatán Peninsula is unique in the Maya world in having a continuous literary tradition dating from the prehispanic to the contemporary period. The 2004 Symposium explored hieroglyphic, Colonial, and contemporary texts written by the Yucatec Maya. The program featured a series of lectures, discussions, and workshops led by specialists in the fields of epigraphy, linguistics, anthropology, and Colonial history.
Participants' thoughts on the 2004 Symposium:
"I enjoyed the clarity of the lectures and the willingness of the speakers to interact with the audience."
"Very well organized."
"I enjoyed the unified theme; each presenter related to and touched on specific points addressed by other speakers."
"Excellent speakers; all of them were very clear, concise, and keyed to the audience level."
"I enjoyed the variety and depth of the lectures."
"Inspiring and fun."
Program
The 2004 Tulane Maya Symposium and Workshop began with a keynote address by Dr. Anthony F. Aveni entitled "The Sky in Mayan Literature." Saturday’s program included lectures on hieroglyphic texts from the Classic and Postclassic periods, Colonial period native literature, and indigenous texts from the 19th and 20th centuries. Lectures were be presented by Markus Eberl, Alfonso Lacadena, Shannon Plank, Gabrielle Vail, John Chuchiak, Victoria R. Bricker, and Paul Sullivan. Sunday workshops at both the beginner and intermediate/advanced levels were led by Bryan R. Just, Timothy Knowlton, Victoria R. Bricker and Harvey M. Bricker, and Alfonso Lacadena.
Special Events:
Maya Symposium Exhibit: Tulane University Latin American Library
The holdings of the Latin American Library at Tulane include a large number of rubbings of Classic Maya inscriptions by Merle Green Robertson and an important collection of documents, written in the Maya language of Yucatán, dating from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, as well as published works – by Tulane authors and others – that exemplify the literary virtuosity of the Maya of the Northern Lowlands. Featured in the exhibition were rubbings of Classic period texts, facsimiles of Postclassic Maya codices, handwritten documents from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, multiple editions of four books of Chilam Balam (those from Chumayel, Chan Kan, Kaua, and Mani), and twentieth-century examples of Maya literature. Of special interest is the relationship between a Spanish chapbook containing a tale from A Thousand and One Nights and Maya texts in three Books of Chilam Balam, suggesting that some eighteenth-century Maya literature was inspired by Spanish (and ultimately Arabic) sources.
Presented by Masaki Noguchi and Victoria R. Bricker.
Latin American Library home page
Speakers
"The Sky in Mayan Literature" -- Dr. Anthony F. Aveni
"An Introduction to the Glyphic Inscriptions of Northern Yucatán" -- Markus Eberl
"The Inscriptions of Ek’ Balam, a Terminal Classic Maya Kingdom in Northern Yucatán" -- Alfonso Lacadena
"In the Threshold: Women, Mothers, and Genre in the Ninth-Century Texts of Chichén Itzá" -- Shannon Plank
"Ritual and Prophecy in the Maya Codices -- Gabrielle Vail
"Hieroglyphs Reborn: The Survival and Colonial Production of Hieroglyphic Codices and Their Use in Post-Conquest Maya Religion, 1570-1750" -- John F. Chuchiak
"The Relationship between the Books of Chilam Balam and the Precolumbian Maya Codices" -- Victoria R. Bricker
"Elements of Contemporary Maya Prophecy" -- Paul Sullivan
"The Art of Late Maya Sculpture, A.D. 750-1100" -- Bryan R. Just
"Creation and Cosmology in the Books of Chilam Balam" -- Timothy Knowlton
"Astronomy in the Maya Codices: Mars and the Maya" -- Victoria R. Bricker and Harvey M. Bricker
"The Inscriptions of Ek’ Balam" -- Alfonso Lacadena