Elizabeth Burgos
Encyclopedia
Venezuela
n anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, wife of the French philosopher Régis Debray
, was the editor
of Rigoberta Menchú
's controversial autobiography
I, Rigoberta Menchú. However, since Rigoberta told Burgos her life in a series of interviews, Burgos became in fact more than just the editor of Menchu's testimony. Menchu claims in the book that she couldn't read or write in Spanish very well. She also adds that her spoken Spanish was poor. Nonetheless, when you read "I, Rigoberta Menchu" in the original Spanish (Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia), the prose flows fluently as if it came from a somewhat fluent speaker and writer of Spanish such as Burgos. In the text, Burgos also adds quotes from the Popol Vuh
, the sacred book of the Mayans. Those epigraphs foreshadow the narrative of the testimonial of Menchu. In essence, Burgos becomes almost like a ghost writer in plain sight since her name also appears as the editor of the book. The translation into English became an international phenomenon, but this version followed the Spanish text that in general had been arranged by Burgos to fit Menchu's needs.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, wife of the French philosopher Régis Debray
Régis Debray
Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
, was the editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is an indigenous Guatemalan, of the K'iche' ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War , and to promoting indigenous rights in the country...
's controversial autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
I, Rigoberta Menchú. However, since Rigoberta told Burgos her life in a series of interviews, Burgos became in fact more than just the editor of Menchu's testimony. Menchu claims in the book that she couldn't read or write in Spanish very well. She also adds that her spoken Spanish was poor. Nonetheless, when you read "I, Rigoberta Menchu" in the original Spanish (Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia), the prose flows fluently as if it came from a somewhat fluent speaker and writer of Spanish such as Burgos. In the text, Burgos also adds quotes from the Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
, the sacred book of the Mayans. Those epigraphs foreshadow the narrative of the testimonial of Menchu. In essence, Burgos becomes almost like a ghost writer in plain sight since her name also appears as the editor of the book. The translation into English became an international phenomenon, but this version followed the Spanish text that in general had been arranged by Burgos to fit Menchu's needs.