The renaissance of Mexican indigenous literature: Resistance, reaffirmation and revision

The past decade has witnessed a boom in the production and publication of literature written by the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through this work, native peoples are expressing themselves through poetry, short story, novel and theater as vehicles to promote social change and thereby ensure linguistic and cultural preservation. This study focuses on the literary works of three prominent Mexican indigenous authors featured in the groundbreaking series Letras Indigenas Contemporaneas, the result of an alliance between Editorial Diana and the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. The bilingual editions---in indigenous languages, with a Spanish translation provided by the author---promote literacy in the native language, as well as resist cultural assimilation through the reaffirmation and revision of native languages, customs, and perspectives. Furthermore, the indigenous writers invite their readers (both indigenous and non-indigenous) to engage in an open dialogue regarding the future of Mexico, incorporating multiple genres from a pluralistic ideology as opposed to a binary perspective.;The Introduction offers an overview of the trajectory of Mexican indigenous literature in the last century, with particular emphasis on the past two decades. The second chapter analyzes the collection of short stories Tatei yurienaka y otros cuentos huicholes (1994) by the Huichol author Gabriel Pacheco Salvador. The third chapter discusses what is lauded as the first Mexican indigenous novel, Wila che be ze lhao/Cantares de los vientos primerizos, Novela Zapoteca (1994) by the Sierra Zapotec author Javier Castellanos Martinez. The final chapter address the short stories and plays found in Cuentos y Teatro Tzeltales/A 'yejetik sok Ta 'jimal (1994) by the Tzeltal author and playwright Isabel Juarez Espinosa.;These indigenous writers are united in their goal of the dissemination and perpetuation of indigenous literature. The works of Castellanos Martinez, Juarez Espinosa and Pacheco Salvador articulate a space for heterogeneity by demonstrating the power of literature as a device for resistance and cultural preservation, through the reaffirmation of indigenous traditions and languages. Furthermore, they inspire a revision of the indigenous communities both from within and beyond non-native communities, on their own terms, in their own words.;Keywords. Latin American Literature, Indigenous Literature, Mexican Literature, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Studies.