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Lætitia Bianchi |
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« Un Lacandon aux longs cheveux noirs, debout sur sa pirogue, vêtu dʼune tunique blanche, creusant la transparence émeraude de la rivière d’une pagaie en bois. MÉXICO AUTÉNTICO. BONAMPAK. CHIAPAS. C’est peut-être le jour où j’ai vu, à l’aéroport de Mexico, sur un écran géant, cette publicité pour une agence de voyages, ce fantasme pour touriste en quête de bons sauvages, que ce livre est né. Un Lacandon ! Bonampak ! Authentique ! Vrai de vrai, à portée de main ! À portée de notre monde, à portée de nos yeux, là, pour nous, pour vous ! Et à ces visiteurs d’un jour qui achèteraient un petit jaguar en bois, il n’était donné qu’une image. Il n’était donné que le mensonge. »
Amazed by the Maya site of Bonampak nestled in the Mexican state of Chiapas, Laetitia Bianchi looked into the circumstances surrounding its discovery in 1946, which is officially attributed to Giles Healey, although other sources speak of Charles Frey and John Bourne. Confronted with these conflicting versions, she immersed herself in the press articles published at that time, explorers' notebooks and archaeological archives. She also investigated the obscure role played by the United Fruit Company in this race for an archaeological scoop. She delved into the Lacandon forest managed by Westerners in the 19th century, but also into its history, the time of toucans, jaguars and ancient trees. Based on this in-depth research, she felt the need to give a voice to the protagonists of this epic, thus choosing a lush novelistic form.
Bonampak is a gripping, reflective adventure novel, the work of a French-Mexican writer who manages to accurately retrace the steps of this discovery, without betraying the memory of its protagonists nor the Lacandon forest.
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