Abstract

VINOGRADOV, Igor. The “Título del barrio de Santa Ana”: A 16^th-Century Manuscript that Initiated the Poqomchi’-Maya Literary Tradition. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2023, vol.62, pp.251-271.  Epub Jan 30, 2024. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm/62/000xs00146w08.

The manuscript informally known as “Título del barrio de Santa Ana” was created in 1565 in San Cristóbal Verapaz, Guatemala. It is written in the Poqomchi’ language (Mayan family, K’iche’ano subgroup) and relates some events during the first decades after the Dominican missionaries arrived. It is a title of ownership, a specific genre of indigenous documents that was elaborated in Mesoamerica with the purpose to obtain a tool to defend the historical rights over certain territories. This paper presents the main characteristics of the “Título del barrio de Santa Ana” and highlights its importance for historical and linguistic studies. Based on a comparative analysis with other indigenous documents written in the Highlands of Guatemala during the colonial period, it is argued that the “Título del barrio de Santa Ana” initiated the Maya-Poqomchi’ literary tradition.

Keywords : Poqomchi’; colonial manuscripts; land titles; literary tradition; historical linguistics.