Rabinal Achi

Reviewed by: Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice Tamara Underiner Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. Translated and interpreted by Dennis Tedlock. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003; pp. x + 361. $35.00. Dennis Tedlock's translation of the Rabinal Achí provides an extraordinarily well-researched new English-language version of the only scripted record of a pre-Columbian dance drama. This drama recounts historical events that took place in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries in what is now central Guatemala, and centers on the trial and execution of a rebel warrior who had once been an ally of the "Man from Rabinal" (Rabinal Achí). Given that the conquering Spaniards eventually banned virtually all pre-invasion plays and performances, the existence of this particular record is therefore remarkable. And although the Rabinal Achí appeared rather late in the pre-invasion period, it enjoys a pride of place in many narrations of Latin American theatre history for its exemplary, if not originary, stature. A number of factors have, however, made it difficult to approach as a species of literature, theatre, and performance, even though it is still performed in the place of its origin, the town of Rabinal in the highlands of Guatemala. Very few theatre historians are literate in the K'iche' Mayan in which it was written and is still performed; even if we were, many of the play's symbols and referents remain obscure. Further, many scholars, intent on proving or disproving its purity as native drama, have mired the play in debates about its provenance and authenticity, since the earliest known manuscript of it was discovered, in 1856, by the Flemish priest Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg. Finally, the remoteness of Rabinal and Guatemala's civil war of the late twentieth century have made scholarly study of this play in performance—and often, the performance of it at all—a risky proposition. Tedlock, an anthropologist, linguist, and poet, overcomes these obstacles through an unusual combination of skills, experiences, and research methodologies. His translation is the only complete version to be based on the K'iche' original; all prior English translations were either abridged, or based on French and Spanish translations, or both. Consulting his own knowledge, that of latter-day speakers, and four centuries worth of Mayan dictionaries and grammars, Tedlock proposes some radically new interpretations of key lines, based on linguistic and contextual evidence. As a skilled reader of Classic Mayan hieroglyphs, painting, and sculpture, he is able to interpret important scenes in light of similar portrayals in Mayan art and pre-Columbian writing. Finally, in 1998 he witnessed several live performances, audio- and videotaped them, and consulted with contemporary performers in order to collate their input with this other evidence, as well as with the oldest known manuscripts of the play. The resulting translation contains full stage directions based on performances, includes diagrams of the footwork, and correlates the movements of the actors to the music and dialogue. Photographs of current performers and sketches of their Classic counterparts accompany the text and discussion. So, while Tedlock's is not the first English translation of the Rabinal Achí, his version, like his translation of the Mayan epic Popol Vuh, is likely to become the definitive one. Poets' translations of poetry can be much more satisfying than others', and in the main, Tedlock's is the loveliest of the English versions of this text. The following example is taken from a bitterly ironic scene in which the main character has asked for the chance to momentarily enjoy that which, had he not turned rebel, he could have enjoyed for a lifetime—the hand of his enemy's daughter. The enemy Lord replies: Whether her mouth has ever been shown Or her face has never been shown I give her to you [End Page 517] Brave man Only to mark the greatness Of your death Your disappearance Here at the navel of the sky Navel of the earth. [111-12] In his extensive study surrounding this translation, Tedlock's central concern is with meaning—with what the words of this text mean now, and what they might have meant before

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