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Manuel Antonio de Rivas

October 15, 2023

Manuel Antonio de Rivas was a Franciscan friar in Mérida, a Spanish colonial town on the Yucatán Peninsula. Details of his life are sketchy, though there are court documents that prove that in the 1770s he was accused of heresy.[1] He is best known for an account of a journey of lunar discovery, Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures, which is credited as the first science fiction text written in the Americas.[2]

Biography Edit

Little is known of Rivas's life outside of the trial for heresy; his birth and death dates are unknown,[3] though it appears he was already an old man by the time he was brought to trial.[4] According to Rivas scholar Miguel Ángel Fernández Delgado, he arrived in Yucatán in 1742, and soon started "making enemies and trouble for himself." He deviated from orthodoxy by believing, for instance, that heavenly bodies affected human behavior (denying free will), reading banned books, and criticizing the veneration of saints. Apparently he printed leaflets critical of his fellow churchmen and distributed them. His behavior was so offensive that he was put on trial in 1775, a trial which revealed his speculative book on lunar travel. He was accused of believing in astrology, of proposing a "branch of hell in the Sun's center," and of endorsing the heliocentrism of Nicolaus Copernicus.[5] An accusation of sodomy was dropped quickly.[1] His Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures was one of the main pieces of evidence; fortunately for him, the court judged it to be a fable, and charges were withdrawn.[5]

Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures Edit

Textual history Edit

The full title of Rivas's 11-folio booklet is translated in English as Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures Aligned to the Meridian of Mérida of the Yucatán by an Anctitone or Inhabitant of the Moon, and Addressed to the Scholar Don Ambrosio de Echevarria, Reciter of Funeral Kyries in the Parish of Jesus of Said City, and Presently Teacher of Logarithm in the Town of Mama of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Year of the Lord 1775.[2] No actual date of composition is given in the manuscript.

The manuscript was rediscovered in 1958 by Pablo González Casanova, "hidden among the dusty volumes of the National Archives in Mexico City"[2]—in fact, among the documents compiled by the Inquisition pertaining to Rivas's trial.[5] It was referenced in a 1977 study of Mexican literature, but was not commented on or published until 1994. An extensive study of Rivas and his lunar narrative was published in 1995 by Delgado, who published a complete, critical edition of the text in 2001.[2]

Genesis Edit

Rivas was evidently influenced by European narratives of lunar exploration, including Lucian's True History, Sir Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, Johannes Kepler's Somnium, Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moone, John Wilkins' Discovery of a New World, Cyrano de Bergerac's The Voyage to the Moon, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle's Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds,[2] and Voltaire's Micromégas.[4]

Contents Edit

Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures (syzygy and quadrature are terms in astronomy) consists of two parts—the first is an account of a lunar voyage by a Frenchman, Onésimo Dutalon in epistolary form, and it precedes another letter containing an astronomical almanac. Both are addressed to a Don Ambrosio de Echevarria (an "observer of lunar movements"[5]) and are written by "anctitones", the inhabitants of the Moon.

In their first letter, the anctitones write to Echevarria about a visit they received from Onésimo Dutalon, a French astronomer, who had written them a very informative and erudite letter with data about syzygies and quadrature. They are pondering how to respond to the letter when Dutalon shows up on the Moon in a flying vessel, evidently propelled by wings. Dutalon tells them his life story, and shares his astronomical information and, among others, the theories of Isaac Newton and the philosophy of René Descartes—according to Delgado, Dutalon is the "obvious mouthpiece of Rivas."[5] While the president of the Moon university is preparing a welcome speech, an interruption comes in the form of a "legion of space demons", who have stopped on their way to the Sun where they are taking the soul of a materialist. Satan had apparently refused this soul in order to preserve order in his domain; Dutalon explains that hell is actually placed in the Sun, a theory he based on that of an Anglican scholar.[6] The letter is signed by the president of the Moon university.

The anctitones provided fodder for the Inquisition's trial: as it happens, they have studied Earth and its inhabitants for a long time, and question various elements on earthly history. For instance, they have doubts about Biblical chronology, and about "the mythological return of the Messiah". They also recall the legend of Phaëton, whose fiery accident burned the lunar records, forcing them to start their history anew, in "a new Lunar Era," now 7,914,522 years ago.[2]

The second letter contains "strange"[5] anctitone remarks on different Earthly chronologies, and ends with a detailed almanac and notes on stellar observations for the year 1775.

English translation Edit

The first full English translation of Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures was published in the journal Eleven Eleven in 2015.[7]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ a b Sigal, Peter Herman (2000). From moon goddesses to virgins: the colonization of Yucatecan Maya sexual desire. U of Texas P. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-292-77753-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Dziubinskyj, Aaron (2003). "The Birth of Science Fiction in Spanish America". Science Fiction Studies. 30 (1): 21–32.
  3. ^ Ferreira, Rachel Haywood (2011). The Emergence of Latin American Science Fiction. Wesleyan UP. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8195-7081-9.
  4. ^ a b Trujillo Muñoz, Gabriel (2000). Biografías del futuro: la ciencia ficción mexicana y sus autores (in Spanish). Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. p. 28. ISBN 970-9051-21-0.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Delgado, Miguel Ángel Fernández (2004). "Manuel Antonio de Rivas (dates unknown)". In Darrell B. Lockhardt (ed.). Latin American science fiction writers: an A-to-Z guide. Westport: Greenwood. pp. 168–69. ISBN 978-0-313-30553-5.
  6. ^ The Anglican is called "Sevidín", a reference to M. Swinden, author of Investigation of the Nature of the Fire of Hell and the Place Where it is Found (Leiden, 1733), according to Delgado. See Dziubinskyj, 29 note 16.
  7. ^ Manuel Antonio de Rivas (2015) "Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures", trans. Fionn Petch. Eleven Eleven 19: 130-136. ISSN 1548-243x

Further reading Edit

  • de Rivas, Manuel Antonio. Sizigias y cuadraturas lunares ajustadas al meridiano de Mérida de Yucatán por un anctítona o habitador de la luna y dirigidas al bachiller don Ambrosio de Echeverría, entonador que ha sido de kyries funerales en la parroquia del Jesús de dicha ciudad y al presente profesor de logarítmica en el pueblo de Mama de la península de Yucatán, para el año del señor 1775: seguido de fragmentos del proceso inquisitorial (Mérida, Yucatán: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), 2001. [edited/annotated by Carolina Depetris and Adrián Curiel Rivera] ISBN 6070206878

October 15, 2023
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Manuel Antonio de Rivas was a Franciscan friar in Merida a Spanish colonial town on the Yucatan Peninsula Details of his life are sketchy though there are court documents that prove that in the 1770s he was accused of heresy 1 He is best known for an account of a journey of lunar discovery Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures which is credited as the first science fiction text written in the Americas 2 Contents 1 Biography 2 Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures 2 1 Textual history 2 2 Genesis 2 3 Contents 2 4 English translation 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingBiography EditLittle is known of Rivas s life outside of the trial for heresy his birth and death dates are unknown 3 though it appears he was already an old man by the time he was brought to trial 4 According to Rivas scholar Miguel Angel Fernandez Delgado he arrived in Yucatan in 1742 and soon started making enemies and trouble for himself He deviated from orthodoxy by believing for instance that heavenly bodies affected human behavior denying free will reading banned books and criticizing the veneration of saints Apparently he printed leaflets critical of his fellow churchmen and distributed them His behavior was so offensive that he was put on trial in 1775 a trial which revealed his speculative book on lunar travel He was accused of believing in astrology of proposing a branch of hell in the Sun s center and of endorsing the heliocentrism of Nicolaus Copernicus 5 An accusation of sodomy was dropped quickly 1 His Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures was one of the main pieces of evidence fortunately for him the court judged it to be a fable and charges were withdrawn 5 Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures EditTextual history Edit The full title of Rivas s 11 folio booklet is translated in English as Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures Aligned to the Meridian of Merida of the Yucatan by an Anctitone or Inhabitant of the Moon and Addressed to the Scholar Don Ambrosio de Echevarria Reciter of Funeral Kyries in the Parish of Jesus of Said City and Presently Teacher of Logarithm in the Town of Mama of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Year of the Lord 1775 2 No actual date of composition is given in the manuscript The manuscript was rediscovered in 1958 by Pablo Gonzalez Casanova hidden among the dusty volumes of the National Archives in Mexico City 2 in fact among the documents compiled by the Inquisition pertaining to Rivas s trial 5 It was referenced in a 1977 study of Mexican literature but was not commented on or published until 1994 An extensive study of Rivas and his lunar narrative was published in 1995 by Delgado who published a complete critical edition of the text in 2001 2 Genesis Edit Rivas was evidently influenced by European narratives of lunar exploration including Lucian s True History Sir Francis Bacon s New Atlantis Johannes Kepler s Somnium Francis Godwin s The Man in the Moone John Wilkins Discovery of a New World Cyrano de Bergerac s The Voyage to the Moon Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle s Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds 2 and Voltaire s Micromegas 4 Contents Edit Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures syzygy and quadrature are terms in astronomy consists of two parts the first is an account of a lunar voyage by a Frenchman Onesimo Dutalon in epistolary form and it precedes another letter containing an astronomical almanac Both are addressed to a Don Ambrosio de Echevarria an observer of lunar movements 5 and are written by anctitones the inhabitants of the Moon In their first letter the anctitones write to Echevarria about a visit they received from Onesimo Dutalon a French astronomer who had written them a very informative and erudite letter with data about syzygies and quadrature They are pondering how to respond to the letter when Dutalon shows up on the Moon in a flying vessel evidently propelled by wings Dutalon tells them his life story and shares his astronomical information and among others the theories of Isaac Newton and the philosophy of Rene Descartes according to Delgado Dutalon is the obvious mouthpiece of Rivas 5 While the president of the Moon university is preparing a welcome speech an interruption comes in the form of a legion of space demons who have stopped on their way to the Sun where they are taking the soul of a materialist Satan had apparently refused this soul in order to preserve order in his domain Dutalon explains that hell is actually placed in the Sun a theory he based on that of an Anglican scholar 6 The letter is signed by the president of the Moon university The anctitones provided fodder for the Inquisition s trial as it happens they have studied Earth and its inhabitants for a long time and question various elements on earthly history For instance they have doubts about Biblical chronology and about the mythological return of the Messiah They also recall the legend of Phaeton whose fiery accident burned the lunar records forcing them to start their history anew in a new Lunar Era now 7 914 522 years ago 2 The second letter contains strange 5 anctitone remarks on different Earthly chronologies and ends with a detailed almanac and notes on stellar observations for the year 1775 English translation Edit The first full English translation of Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures was published in the journal Eleven Eleven in 2015 7 See also EditMoon in fictionReferences Edit a b Sigal Peter Herman 2000 From moon goddesses to virgins the colonization of Yucatecan Maya sexual desire U of Texas P p 70 ISBN 978 0 292 77753 8 a b c d e f Dziubinskyj Aaron 2003 The Birth of Science Fiction in Spanish America Science Fiction Studies 30 1 21 32 Ferreira Rachel Haywood 2011 The Emergence of Latin American Science Fiction Wesleyan UP p 234 ISBN 978 0 8195 7081 9 a b Trujillo Munoz Gabriel 2000 Biografias del futuro la ciencia ficcion mexicana y sus autores in Spanish Universidad Autonoma de Baja California p 28 ISBN 970 9051 21 0 a b c d e f Delgado Miguel Angel Fernandez 2004 Manuel Antonio de Rivas dates unknown In Darrell B Lockhardt ed Latin American science fiction writers an A to Z guide Westport Greenwood pp 168 69 ISBN 978 0 313 30553 5 The Anglican is called Sevidin a reference to M Swinden author of Investigation of the Nature of the Fire of Hell and the Place Where it is Found Leiden 1733 according to Delgado See Dziubinskyj 29 note 16 Manuel Antonio de Rivas 2015 Syzygies and Lunar Quadratures trans Fionn Petch Eleven Eleven 19 130 136 ISSN 1548 243xFurther reading Editde Rivas Manuel Antonio Sizigias y cuadraturas lunares ajustadas al meridiano de Merida de Yucatan por un anctitona o habitador de la luna y dirigidas al bachiller don Ambrosio de Echeverria entonador que ha sido de kyries funerales en la parroquia del Jesus de dicha ciudad y al presente profesor de logaritmica en el pueblo de Mama de la peninsula de Yucatan para el ano del senor 1775 seguido de fragmentos del proceso inquisitorial Merida Yucatan Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico 2001 edited annotated by Carolina Depetris and Adrian Curiel Rivera ISBN 6070206878 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Manuel Antonio de Rivas amp oldid 1134314129, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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