Utilising Mythopoetic Paradigms for Subverting Prescriptive Linguistic Colonial Supremacies

Abstract

Post-colonial scholars often confront the dual nature of colonial languages. While these languages provide pivotal communication avenues, especially for diverse marginalized groups like certain Indigenous communities, they simultaneously embody colonial biases, making them challenging mediums for emancipatory discourse. This paper proposes mythopoeticism to leverage the extensive reach of such languages, circumventing their constructive norms. We spotlight this through the prism of the Chiapas Mesoamerican communities' mythopoetics during the 1994 National Army of Zapatista Liberation (EZLN) uprising. This investigation aims to enrich contemporary post-colonial thought, presenting Mesoamerican perspectives on mythopoetics as a dynamic instrument for post-colonial dialogue. The discussion first examines the formative influence of colonial languages on meaning and power dynamics. It then transitions to a detailed textual analysis of the Zapatista mythopoetic narratives. Lastly, it considers the assimilation of Mesoamerican insights into current post-colonial frameworks, endorsing mythopoetics as a rejuvenated mechanism for post-colonial endeavors.