''Ayvu Rapyta'' is a book written in the
Mbya Guarani language with spanish translation of mythical texts compiled by Paraguayan anthropologist
León Cadogan. Cadogan records the myths and religious tradition of the Mbyá Guaraní of the
Guairá Department Guaira may refer to:
* Guayrá, a former region of the Spanish Empire in what is now modern Paraguay and Brazil
* Guaíra Falls, former waterfalls on the Paraná River along the border between Brazil and Paraguay Brazil
* Guaíra, Paraná
Gu ...
of
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
as told him by, among others,
Cacique
A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...
Pablo Vera.
The book's full title is ''Ayvu Rapyta: Textos míticos de los Mbyá-Guaraní del Guairá'' and was first published in 1959. It is considered to be one of the most fundamental works on the
Guarani people.
One of the most important concepts explained in this work is that of the founding of the human language or the "Ayvu Rapyta." The father, Ñamandu, by virtue of his creative wisdom, or ''kuaarara'', conceived the origins of the human tongue even before the existence of the world.
The book also chronicles the plans of various other spirits to create the first earth (''Yvy Tenonde'') which was later destroyed by flood to be replaced by the new earth (''Yvy Pyaú''). Also explained is the origin of all living persons and their word-souls (''Ñe'êy'').
Cadogan also compiled from his Mbyá associates various songs, prayers and rites essential to indigenous religious life as well as their ethical customs.
The first chapters were translated by Cadogan himself and were first published in 2013 by Peter Lambert and Andrew Nickson. Numerous translations and retranslations (some with significant errors), as well as a plagiarism accusation made by Bartomeu Melià against Pierre Clastres, sparked much debate
[{{Cite journal , last=Zubizarreta , first=Joaquín RUIZ , date=2022-12-30 , title=Appropriations ou (re)traductions de l’Ayvu Rapyta , url=https://revues.u-bordeaux-montaigne.fr/conceptos/article/view/134 , journal=Conceφtos , language=fr , issue=6 , pages=205–225 , doi=10.46608/conceptos2022b/art11 , issn=2742-9660]. However, to this day, there is no complete translation into English.
External links
Various Excerpts in Guarani and Spanish
Latin American folklore
Religious texts
Creation myths
Paraguayan books
South American folklore
1959 non-fiction books