Xurt’an: The End of the World and Other Myths, Songs, Charms, and Chants by the Northern Lacandones of Naha’, edited by Suzanne Cook, is an impressive collection of oral literature from the Northern Lacandones of Naha’, Chiapas, Mexico. The oral narratives compiled in this book were collected over the course of fifteen years by Cook and her Lacandon collaborators. Cook’s volume responds to cultural shifts in the community of Naha’ that have changed how rituals are practiced and stories are shared. In this way, Xurt’an is an excellent resource for cultural and language revitalization.

In the preface, Cook discusses the revitalization project that the book seeks to aid. The discussion of tradition and change in this section could be more nuanced, though Cook later explores this issue in more detail. In an acknowledgements section, Cook introduces the key figures who have informed the creation of the anthology, and the introduction details the structure of the rest of the text. Following the introduction, in Part One, “The Hach Winik ‘True People,’” Cook offers historical and cultural background on the Northern Lacandon. The first chapter in this section, “The Lacandones,” is a brief overview of the Lacandon language, followed by a history of the Maya from the Classic period to the present, specifically attending to the group that would become known as the Lacandon. Next, Cook explores the ethnographic record for the Lacandones of Naha’ and continues with a detailed overview of pan-Maya religious beliefs from before the conquest to the present. This overview provides a firm grounding for the reader unfamiliar with the Lacandon and Maya cultures. In the second chapter, “Northern Lacandon Literature,” Cook introduces features of Lacandon oral literature, including literary devices, genre, structure, and ritual language. Cook ends the chapter with an explanation of the process of collecting this oral literature, as well as details regarding transcription and translation.

Cook divides the oral literature in this collection into the following emic genres: myths, popular stories, songs, ritual speech, and “descriptions of meteorological and astral phenomena” (xix). Each piece of oral literature begins on a new page with a title (in both Lacandon and English, in most cases) followed by the name of the speaker/performer. An explanatory or summary paragraph then follows. The content of the introductions varies throughout but often includes a summary of the selection’s contents and historical, religious, and cultural background information. Each piece is presented in both Lacandon and English, with the Lacandon printed above the English text. The translation is arranged on the page in a manner that hints at its performance, as it is broken into sections indicated by changes in intonation and pauses. Cook discusses some of the other common poetic features of this oral literature (like parallelism and couplets), but we do not always see them indicated visually on the page. Endnotes are used throughout and are an added benefit, helping the reader understand more about particular words and concepts and offering justification for translation choices. While it is not exactly necessary, a key would have been helpful to identify performance markers such as formatting features (italics, bold, etc.) and brackets that are present in the texts of the oral narratives. Finally, some contextual details on the circumstances of performance of the oral literature would have been an added benefit, especially for folklorists.

The stories in Part Two are classified as myths, or historias. Cook writes that these stories center on the activities of the gods as they work to create the universe, humans, and religious practices. In some of the contextual introductions that precede these stories, Cook discusses pan-Mayan and European influences, making this text particularly valuable for comparative literary studies of Maya and non-Indigenous cultures. Part Three features popular stories, also known as cuentos. These stories often involve characters like lesser gods, animals, and ancestors. The subject matter for the cuentos in this section varies, but three common storylines are learning lessons on how to interact with animals and gods (“Haayok’”); stories told in order to naturalize changes in technologies (“P’ikbir Ts’on yeter Kisin,” “The Rifle and the Kisin”); and explanations of how animals came to possess their distinctive features (“How the Toucan Got His Red Beak”). The stories are introduced with contextual information that aids the reader’s comprehension of the cuento.

Part Four features songs that are sung to fulfill a number of purposes in Lacandon communities, including work songs and songs sung for a ritual purpose. Cook provides an introduction to each of the songs with details regarding the context of their performance. In these introductions, some of the songs are also described as chants or charms. A more detailed explanation of the genre of songs would be helpful for understanding why certain selections are classified as songs and not as ritual language, despite their stated ritual purpose. A few of the songs are specific to women’s work and were delivered by women, distinguishing this anthology from previous collections of Lacandon oral literature, which, Cook notes, feature the voices of men exclusively (xiv). Part Five contains selections of ritual speech, prefaced by a brief description of the purpose and cultural context of the ritual. Part Six, “Descriptions of Meteorological and Astral Phenomena,” features three brief narratives about the Milky Way, rainbows, and the solstice.

Following the narratives, Cook provides two appendices: “Lacandon Onen, Ceremonial Names, and Distribution,” and “Gods and Men in Lacandon Mythology.” These two appendices include descriptions of gods and figures in oral literatures of other Maya ethno-linguistic communities, making these appendices a valuable resource for those interested in comparative studies.

Xurt’an will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of folklore, anthropology, comparative literature, and performance studies. The scope of the oral narratives gathered here is notable, as is Cook’s discussion of some of the selections. Although some minor formatting changes could improve its readability (subheadings could helpfully separate the historical and contextual background from the narrative text; further treatment of the text could reveal more about the qualities of its performance), Xurt’an will certainly become a landmark in the study of Northern Lacandon Maya oral literature.

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[Review length: 1019 words • Review posted on September 17, 2020]