Antiheroes united: the emergence of modern Maya Tsotsil fiction

This article analyzes ‘Kim Pik’ix / El Salpicado’ [The Butcher], a short story by Maya Tsotsil author Cristóbal Joj (2023). It argues that, beyond the inclusion of formal narratological elements, the focus on excessively cruel antiheroes registers the emergence of modern Maya Tsotsil fiction. In dialogue with Mikel Ruiz (2014), I suggest that themes of Maya Tsotsil literature emerge from a vulnerable social order. The antagonist, who is also the protagonist, embodies a form of cruelty that rejects permanent victimhood, refusing to conform to an imaginary that often debilitates Indigenous bodies and their paths to resistance. Conversely, the horrific acts committed by excessively cruel villains call for emergency responses. My claim is that the short story critically assesses impunity, contrasting traditional forms of autonomy with revolutionary-oriented Indigenous organizations, particularly in light of the growing dominance of drug cartels. Through themes of vigilantism and incestuous reproduction, I argue that contemporary Tsotsil fiction should be read as an unsettling form of foundational fiction. However, rather than envisioning the creation of a Maya nation-state, this fictional turn captures a different anxiety: the Tsotsil future will either be autonomous and revolutionary, as exemplified by the Zapatistas, or succumb to cartel domination.