Nahuatl poetry : a content analysis of English and Spanish translations /
As the population of the United States continues to shift from a 'predominately white population to one that is substantially 'other cultured,"' schools need to embrace the use of multicultural and multiethnic literature programs (Gonzalez, 1990). Anaya (1992) argues that in a c...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English Spanish |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1996.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=739323971&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | As the population of the United States continues to shift from a 'predominately white population to one that is substantially 'other cultured,"' schools need to embrace the use of multicultural and multiethnic literature programs (Gonzalez, 1990). Anaya (1992) argues that in a country that has over fifteen million Mexican Americans, Chicano literature is virtually unknown in the classroom, particularly that of the pre-Columbian Indians like the literature written in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. One major reason is the lack of English translations of the literature. While all literary genres are legitimate carriers of cultural value, Norton (1995) particularly stresses the use of poetry as one genre that can be used to introduce multicultural literature to children. This historic/descriptive research compared and contrasted the English and Spanish translations of Nahuatl poetry to make recommendations on poems appropriate for multicultural studies. A study of the Aztec culture and of translation theory was conducted. Both primary and secondary sources were used. An extensive search of English translations of Nahuatl poems that cited the original folio or codex produced a population of two hundred and fifty-nine poems. Fifty poems were selected using random numbered poems to produce a representative stratified sample of poems for each author. The use of content analysis was applied to study the data. For this population of poems, 34.2% of the translations differed when compared to their Spanish counterpart, 17% showed changes in the names of deities, 87.2% had accurate folio citation, and 10.6% showed inclusions of Christian motifs. In this sample of poems, approximately half of the religious poems did not depict an accurate portrayal of the Aztec culture because in about half of the poems Christian deities had been substituted for Aztec deities. The historic/epic poems showed 83% had no changes in deities and 94.1% cited correct folio citation. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". The literature of this study was restricted to English and Spanish translations of Nahuatl poetry. |
| Physical Description: | ix, 152 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 131-152. |