Carlos Montemayor (1947-2010): Just Visited the Earth

Carlos Montemayor: an extra ordinary

Writer, Political Activist, Linguist, Musician and a Common Man

I

Exactly one month back Carlos Montemayor said goodbye to the world. Waited for almost a month to see some obituary note about him appeared in some academic or literary journal from India. I am not sure how many people in India knew about Carlos Montemayor. Those who are familiar with Latin America, especially Latin American literature were very much aware about his existence. We expected a note, at least in his facebook, of K. Sachithanandan, former secretary of Sahitya Academy, who is known for his passion for Latin American literature. During his tenure in Sahitya Academy, he took initiative to bring Carlos Montemayor to India to participate in an international literature seminar.

It was exactly four years ago, he was here in Delhi to attend an international literature seminar on “Myth, Magic, History: Contemporary Fiction in Latin America and India”. Carlos Montemayor was one among the chief guests of Sahitya Academy who brought tallest literary figures from across South America. During his visit, he shared his views on modern Latin American literature; he found time to interact with authors, academicians and intellectuals in India.

Montemayor said his last bye to the good earth on the last day of February 2010. There is no doubt; his adieu is a huge loss for humanity. His death means, the humanity lost a genuine intellectual who took extraordinary effort to understand the language and culture of Indigenous people in Mexico. In fact, he spent a major portion of his life for bringing out the unknown literary traces of the native indigenous communities of Mexico. He was an expert of many disappearing indigenous languages and that makes his death as a bigger lost.

Carlos Montemayor started his literary career with poetry, a genre in which he has published such titles as The arms of Wind (1977), April and Other Poems (1979), Finisterra (1982) and April and other Stations. But, his popularity was connected with his novel War in paradise (1997), which documents the dirty war of the 1970s between the government of Mexico and the guerrillas of Lucio Cabañas. His other novels are Mal Stone (1980), Mines of Return (1982), The secret reports (1999), The arms of the dawn (2003) and Leakage (2007).

For me, the news about his death was a slight pain. Another person, very important, whom I met during my lifetime, passed away. I knew, I am not much familiar with his writings or activities, but the interaction with him for less than two hours was enough to convenience me about the depth and sharpness of his scholarship. I am very much thankful to my supervisor for passing information about his visit to the Centre in our University. Supervisor’s message said everything, the importance of the person, about the preparation should be taken before meeting. I was working with an organisation and took half day leave to attend the small session of our centre, yes, I did not forgot to find some writings about Carlos Montemayor.

II

Carlos Antonio Montemayor Aceves born in June 13, 1947 in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. His basic degree was in Law but later he expertise in indigenous languages from National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and also earned a degree in Oriental Studies from El Colegio de Mexico. He was fluent in a number of indigenous Mexican languages as well as classical languages like Greek, Latin, and Arabic. Along with his mother tong –Spanish, he effortlessly handled European languages such as French, Italian and English. His works in linguistics was recognised by a number of prestigious institutions, by electing him as a member and officer bearer, such as the Mexican Academy of Languages, Spanish Royal Academy and the Association of the 20th century Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Archives.

In linguistics, he developed a special taste to understand the indigenous Mexican oral tradition. Throughout his life, he explained himself as the lifelong researcher and indeed he was. His research was flowered between 1979 and 1980, when he prepared an anthology of Oaxacan storytellers, which was delineated in his book “Encounters with Oaxaca”. He added more works about the cultural and artistic background of the indigenous communities and translated them into Spanish. In fact, he lived as a link between the oral tradition of indigenous communities and the modern world literature. Another contribution from Montemayor to the humanity was the ‘Dictionary of Nahuatl’ an indigenous language -in Spanish.

Apart from his skills in linguistics, Montemayor was known for his interest in Music. He started his music lessons at the age of seven by learning to play guitar and piano. Later he developed the taste to understand and assimilate the tenor of operas of Puccini and Verdi and he incorporated this when he prepared the libretto for the opera Meeting at the Sunset, composed by Daniel Catan. He continued his music lessons in the School of Music, Madrid where he studied along with Roberto Bañuelas and Guadalupe Campos, to singing at the conservatory. For his musical skills, he was honoured with scholarships from the Fund for Culture Mexico/USA, Rockefeller Foundation, and he was recognised as the artist in residence in Bellagio Study and Conference Centre, Villa Serbelloni, Italy.

III

Beyond all these skills and special interests, he was more known for his political positions. He had his own way of understanding the political developments and was very keen to understand the problems of the voiceless people, in Mexico, the indigenous population. He supported the cause of Indigenous movement in Chiapas, broke out in 1994. As a person who closely observed the social and cultural life of indigenous communities in Mexico, Montemayor realised the paradoxical position of Mexican society towards the indigenous people. The paradox was visible in Mexican government’s attempt to create social programmes for the indigenous communities and on the other side, how the common man in Mexico counts the term ‘Indian’ with a negative charge. He explains it “in reality there was never respect or interest in special programmes in support of indigenous peoples. Mexico is a very racist country with a large racial discrimination, Mexico is ashamed of his Indian heritage, always looking for different racial accommodation and is a fracture that has not solved the country, so simple, so that the history of peoples Indians in Mexico is a story of dispossession, injustice, massacres, of marginalisation”.

Montemayor traces the roots of this attitude from the 500 year historical background of Mexico. He observers that the Mexicans always had a subservient attitude towards its northern neighbour and always keen to copy the way the US do things into its social system. In his view “our American countries beginning in the north, very racist country. America is a racist country so that not only wipes out the indigenous, mestizo people also has a deep contempt for Mexicans who says ‘smelly’, a deep contempt for blacks, including the current President Barack Obama, and his racism is a problem not culturally, is a structural problem, a political conflict, economic”.

As a political activist, he had a compassionate approach towards the revolutionary groups in Mexico. He was part of the Committee of Mediation which included journalist Miguel Angel Grandos Chapa, Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Ruiz etc., to initiate dialogue between the government of Mexico and the leftist People’s Revolutionary Army (EPR). In fact, his best known novel ‘War in Paradise’ is a fictional account of a real life guerrilla movement led by Lucio Cabanas in the 1970s and the government’s campaign against it. His latest work, ‘State Violence in Mexico’ has rolled out from the press on 2nd March 2010, two days after his death.

In his observation on the domestic politics of Mexico, there was no difference between the political parties. In his article, ‘Which PRI Wants to Win the Election?’, appeared in Latin American Perspectives (2006), he observe that there is no change in the political or economic policies of Mexico though after the change of 70 year old regime from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), to the Partido Accion Nacional (PAN). The new regime is also continuing the policies of PRI and the main opposition party Partido de la Revolucion Democratica (PRD) is not a proper opposition and it is also an extension of former PRI. So, the people cannot expect a proper change in the economic or social policies of Mexican government.

IV

Death of Montemayor will remain as a huge lose for Mexico and the world, especially who loves literature and politics. In his short span of life, he did a lot for the humanity. His words will direct the emerging intellectuals to look into the life, culture and contributions of the marginalised people of Mexico –the indigenous community. With a big hope –that somebody will carry the mantle of intellectual power left in this world by Carlos Montemayor, further to enlighten the human civilisation.

Snippet: Carlos Montemayor was very much sympathetic towards the Zapatistas movement in Chiapas. His last book is also dealing with the issues regarding the uprising of EZLN in 1994. It was a sheer coincidence that his death was on the same day of the death of Ana Maria Zapata Portillo (94), the last surviving child of Mexican Revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata. She was one of the three children of Zapata who was killed in 1919. Ana Maria Zapata had worked for the Morelos state government and served as a lawmaker in the state legislature.