the book Nahuatl erotica It brings together the erotic literary tradition of our ancestors and allows us to discover how they looked at sexuality and desire at that time, and also allows readers to expand their literary background in this area.
By Angélica González
Mexico City, November 16 (However).- The Spanish language dictionary defines eroticism in two ways: “What excites sexual pleasure” and “Quality of certain events and situations that stimulate sensuality. Both definitions indicate that eroticism in most of the time will go hand in hand with sexuality and stimulation.
For the French philosopher George Bataille, eroticism: it is the approval of life even in death.” Although that is not his own definition, it is a formula that perfectly encapsulates its meaning: “men have made their sexual activity an erotic activity, where the difference that separates eroticism from simple sexual activity is a psychological search independent of the natural end given in reproduction.” With this information we can realize that eroticism is an action for human enjoyment that has become artistic inspiration.
the book Nahuatl Erotica by Miguel León Portilla from the publisher Arts of Mexico It is responsible for showing readers that the art of eros is not exclusive to European cultures or the Greeks, it shows that in Mesoamerica there was also an erotic literary tradition.
The book begins with a story about a naked man who falls in love with the daughter of a king, who falls ill with a fever caused by the subject’s member; going through the story where a sexual challenge of the women of Chalco with the men is shown with some criticism. Then we see fragments of songs where they talk about feminine pleasure, passing through the anecdote of Nezahualcóyotl who had to judge two old women who needed to have relations because their husbands did not please them. Finally, it ends with an interesting comparison that the author makes between Aphrodite and Tlazoltéotl and shows in the introduction before the poems certain parallelisms that they share.
The erotic literary tradition in the Pre-Hispanic world
The French philosopher Michel Foucault mentions that there are two procedures to talk about sexuality: from art and science, this was proposed in a conference he held at the University of Tokyo. For the philosopher, it is more common that Eastern societies such as Japan or India had erotic art, and that in the West the topic of sexuality was treated scientifically, of course he emphasizes that the discourse in the West has not always been like this and that societies in this area did have art driven by desire, but in a scientific way.
For the casual public and even for readers with some experience, and with a limited view of the time, they were pleasantly surprised to learn that pre-Hispanic cultures had an erotic literary tradition. That puts it in a context that presided over many of us and that would lay the foundations for future Mexican literature.
Of course, the texts encounter certain complications such as being incomplete or having to be reread several times to be understood, which is why the author offers a sociocultural and historical context before the readings that complements our experience and helps us understand much better.
the book Nahuatl Erotica It brings together the erotic literary tradition of our ancestors and allows us to discover how they looked at sexuality and desire at that time, and also allows readers to expand their literary background in this area.
