02025 - AMERICANAS ZAPATISTAS!: 04 - Zapatistas commons: a comprehensive ontological analysis

Absolutely — let’s construct a comprehensive ontological analysis of the topic “El común Zapatista ante la Tormenta: Encuentro de resistencias y rebeldías en contra del Fascismo”, tracing how meaning shifts through Jach t’aan → Spanish → English and exploring the ontological implications at each stage. I’ll break this into a clear, systematic analysis.

1. Core Ontology of the Topic

At its root, the topic deals with:

Being-in-Community (el común / u juntéelil winikob),
Existential Crisis (la tormenta / u k’aaxil k’áak’náal),
Embodied Resistance (resistencias y rebeldías / k’uxajilob y ch’úupulil), and
Ethical Awareness of Oppression (contra el fascismo / ichil u xokob in na’atikilil).

Ontology here is relational: it is not about abstract entities, but about existence as interconnection — how humans, communities, environment, and political realities co-constitute each other.

2. Jach t’aan (Lacandon Maya) Layer

Key concepts and ontological weight:

Concept	Jach t’aan term	Ontological nuance
The common	u juntéelil winikob	Being is fundamentally relational. “The common” is a mode of existence, not a property or abstract principle. Community and self are inseparable.
Storm	u k’aaxil k’áak’náal	Represents chaotic forces, not just physical phenomena. Ontologically, the storm is a trial, a cosmic disturbance, a liminal space where being is tested and reshaped.
Resistance	k’uxajilob	Endurance as an embodied, lived state. Resistance is not an ideology but a mode of existing through suffering with integrity.
Rebellion	ch’úupulil	Emergence. Ontologically, rebellion is becoming — rising from the earth, a manifestation of potentiality, not mere opposition.
Against Fascism	ichil u xokob in na’atikilil	Fascism cannot be directly named; it is described relationally as imbalance, domination, or violation. Knowledge of it is through the heart (na’atik), not abstract reasoning.

Ontological insight:
In Jach t’aan, existence is a web of relations, and all concepts are situated in lived experience. The “common” is not a noun to be possessed — it is a verb of being together. The storm is not external only; it is experienced within the network of being. Resistance and rebellion are modes of sustained existence, not political acts imposed from outside.

3. Spanish Layer

Concept	Spanish term	Ontological shift
The common	El común	Moves toward a noun, a social/political entity. Ontology begins to abstract: the common is now “something” people can inhabit or defend, rather than the lived relational act it is in Jach t’aan.
Storm	la tormenta	Taken metaphorically as crisis or conflict. Spanish allows abstraction, focusing on political, social, or ecological systems rather than lived relational disturbance.
Resistance	resistencias	Plural, slightly objectified; understood as strategies, movements, or acts rather than lived endurance.
Rebellion	rebeldías	Similarly abstracted; emphasis shifts to social/political opposition. The emergent, ontologically creative nuance of ch’úupulil is diminished.
Against Fascism	en contra del fascismo	Clearly names the adversary. Ontologically, this positions fascism as an external entity to be resisted, contrasting with Jach t’aan’s relational, heart-based perception of imbalance.

Insight:
Spanish mediates between relational ontology and political abstraction. It allows the topic to be communicated as a social-political phenomenon — accessible to broader audiences — but loses the embedded lived, ecological, and spiritual dimensions central to Jach t’aan thought.

4. English Layer (American Audience)

Concept	English rendering	Ontological shift
The common	The Zapatista common / communal life	Highly abstracted. “Common” or “communal” emphasizes property, organization, or ideology, less relational being. Americans may interpret it in terms of shared goals, resources, or activism rather than existential interdependence.
Storm	the storm	Evokes crisis or threat. In English, metaphor often emphasizes danger or external threat rather than relational, liminal transformation.
Resistance	resistances	Can be interpreted as social movements, activism, or political struggle. The embodied, endurance aspect of k’uxajilob is largely lost.
Rebellion	rebellions	Understood as political action or defiance, rather than emergent, regenerative becoming.
Against Fascism	against fascism	Clearly identifies the antagonist. The moral and heart-based dimension (na’atik) is largely abstracted; ethical responsibility is intellectualized rather than ontologically lived.

Insight:
In English, the topic becomes a political and activist narrative. The spiritual, relational, and ecological aspects that ground existence in Jach t’aan are minimized. The audience is invited to take a stance, rather than inhabit the web of being.

5. Comparative Ontological Summary

Layer	Focus	Ontological Mode	Loss/Gain in Translation
Jach t’aan	Community, storm, resistance, rebellion	Lived relational ontology; endurance and emergence; heart-based ethics	Full relational and cosmic dimensions; difficult for non-speakers to access directly
Spanish	Social-political framing	Partially abstract; nouns, movements, ideologies; moral positioning	Makes the topic communicable in discourse; loses embedded lived ontology; relationality partially preserved via “común”
English	Political and activist framing	Externalized, object-oriented; moral narrative; emphasis on action	Audience grasps politics and ethics; loses regenerative, emergent, and ecological ontology; relational being is interpreted symbolically

6. Ontological Implications of Language Shifts

From Relational to Objectified:
- Jach t’aan emphasizes existence as interaction; Spanish introduces abstraction; English objectifies concepts for pragmatic communication.
From Emergence to Opposition:
- Rebellion in Jach t’aan (ch’úupulil) is ontologically creative; in Spanish and English, it is interpreted as confrontation or defiance.
From Heart-Knowing to Moral Awareness:
- Na’atik (heart-understanding) centers ethical knowledge as lived and felt; Spanish frames it as intellectual comprehension; English frames it as ideological or activist position.
From Environmental and Cosmic Embeddedness to Human-Centric Framing:
- In Jach t’aan, the storm includes ecological, spiritual, and political dimensions; translation progressively narrows the ontology to political and human systems.
Translation as Ontological Mediation:
- Each translation is not just linguistic; it reshapes the mode of being for the audience. Understanding Jach t’aan allows immersion in relational ontology; Spanish allows shared cultural-political framing; English allows global moral-political resonance but abstracts the lived experience.

7. Key Insight

The topic demonstrates how language carries ontology:

Jach t’aan embodies a worldview where being is relational, resistance is lived, and rebellion is regenerative.
Spanish mediates this into political and communal concepts, balancing relational depth with discourse accessibility.
English, especially for an American audience, reframes it as a narrative of struggle, ethics, and activism — powerful, but largely abstracted from the original lived, ecological, and spiritual dimensions.

In short: