Momostenango is a municipality in the Totonicapán department of Guatemala . The municipality is situated in the North-West of Totonicapán, in the Western highlands of Guatemala.
12-649: Momostenango's population is predominantly of Maya Kʼicheʼ descent. 70% of the population lives in rural areas and most are small farmers growing maize, beans for their own consumption, and wheat. The municipality is subdivided in the town of Momostenango, 14 villages and 169 smaller communities called caseríos or parajes . Momostenango is the birthplace of the Maya Kʼicheʼ poet Humberto Ak'ab'al (1952-2019), who writes in Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) and in Spanish . Momostenango borders to
24-624: A shepherd and weaver , until leaving to find work in Guatemala City as a street vendor and porter. Despite his grandfather's cautions that “books can make you lose your mind,” Akʼabʼal decided to venture into the world of poetry. His mother actually served as a source of support and influence in this choice, as she "planted in [him] an interest in the word" as a way to "continue [his] elders' tradition." fue futbolista en Guatemala Akʼabʼal originally began writing his poetry in Spanish, "because he
36-703: A Guatemala City hospital on 28 January 2019. Carlos Montemayor Carlos Montemayor (June 13, 1947 – February 28, 2010) was a Mexican novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic, tenor , political analyst, and promoter of contemporary literature written in indigenous languages . He was a Member of the Mexican Academy of the Language . Montemayor was born in Parral , Chihuahua . He died of stomach cancer on February 28, 2010, in Mexico City . This article about
48-511: A program of eugenics —focused on the assimilation of Guatemala's Indians into its mestizo (in local usage “ladino”) population— as a remedy to the ills of the Guatemalan nation, a process he would promote by encouraging European immigration. After starting his career as a poet, Akʼabʼal moved back to his village. He lived in Momostenango, where he focused solely on his writing. Akʼabʼal died in
60-493: Is around 1200 mm, except for the much dryer northern part of the municipality which receives 400–800 mm of rainfall. The Municipality of Momostenango is divided into the following principal administrative units. Humberto Ak%27ab%27al Humberto Akʼabal , also Akʼabʼal or Akabal (31 October 1952 – 28 January 2019), was a Kʼicheʼ Maya poet from Guatemala . Akʼabʼal wrote in his native language of Kʼicheʼ , and then translated his poetry into Spanish . With
72-681: The Department of Humanities of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala . In 2004 he declined to receive the Guatemala National Prize in Literature because it is named for Miguel Ángel Asturias , whom Akʼabal accused of encouraging racism. He said Asturias' 1923 essay The Social Problem of the Indian , "Offends the indigenous peoples of Guatemala, of which I am part." The young Asturias proposed
84-553: The North with the municipalities of Malacatancito ( Huehuetenango ), San Bartolo and Santa Lucía La Reforma , to its South with San Francisco El Alto and the municipality of Totonicapán , to the East with Santa María Chiquimula , and to the West with San Carlos Sija ( Quezaltenango ). The municipality's territory of 305 km has a mountainous topography with elevations ranging from 1800 m in
96-678: The North-East, to 3300 m (Cerro Tená) to the West. The mountains on its western border are a watershed for the Salinas and Samalá river basins. Most of the 49 waterflows are tributaries of the Chixoy River in the Salinas river basin. Like most of the central highlands, the climate is relatively cold, and is marked by a rainy season starting in mid-May, and a dry season starting in October. Yearly precipitation
108-516: The birds, speaks K'iche' Maya, and thinks as we'd wish most men thought." Akʼabʼal has been given many awards and honors from around the globe, including: Akʼabal's book Guardián de la caída de agua (or "Guardian of the Waterfall" in English) was named book of the year by Association of Guatemalan Journalists and in 1993 received their Golden Quetzal award. In 1995 he received an honorary degree from
120-466: The same time as our time, with the same life as our life, loving and understanding the same continent that we love but do not understand." In describing Ak'bal's work, Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda wrote: "I remain seriously impressed by Ak'abal's poetry, by its essential simplicity, by the elemental sacredness within which pulsating words reveal deeds, things, and directly natural beings." Chilean historian Miguel Rojas Mix wrote that "Akʼabal sings like
132-584: The translations of his works into numerous languages and international recognition, Akʼabʼal is considered to be "the most renowned Maya Kiʼcheʼ poet" in the world and one of the best known Guatemalan writers in Europe and Latin America. Akʼabʼal was born in 1952 in Momostenango , Totonicapán. His formal education ceased at age twelve, when he left school to help financially support his family. He worked in his village as
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#1733093634148144-875: Was 'illiterate' in his own mother tongue," but eventually started to write in Kʼicheʼ in the 1980s. Despite the fact that his own Spanish translations made his works available to a wider audience, Akʼabʼal was unable to find a publisher interested in printing his Kʼicheʼ work until 1993. Since gaining popularity, Akʼabʼal's poetry has been translated into many different languages, including French , English , Estonian , Scots , German , Japanese , Dutch , Portuguese , Vietnamese , Hebrew , Hungarian , Arabic , and Italian . Many scholars have praised Akʼabʼal's work as an expression of his indigenous tradition. Literary critic Carlos Montemayor said that "Writers like Ak'ab'al… require us to penetrate into that other reality that we do not know, understand that this culture, that this indigenous soul lives and breathes in our own reality at
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