Maya or mestizo? : nationalism, modernity, and its discontents / Ronald Loewe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Loewe, Ronald, author.

Series:

Teaching culture

Teaching culture : UTP ethnographies for the classroom

Language:

English

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Ethnic identity.

Mayas.

Mayas--Social life and customs.

Mayas--Cultural assimilation--Mexico--Maxcanú.

Social classes.

Mayas--Cultural assimilation.

Maxcanú (Mexico)--Social life and customs.

Maxcanú (Mexico).

Maxcanú (Mexico)--Religious life and customs.

Social classes--Mexico--Maxcanú.

Maxcanú (Mexico)--Social conditions.

Maxcanú (Mexico)--Economic conditions.

Mexico--Maxcanú.

Physical Description:

xxii, 202 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2010]

Language Note:

Some text in Spanish with English translations.

Biography/History:

Ronald Loewe is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Long Beach.

Summary:

This multifaceted and beautifully written ethnography of Maxcanu, a small Maya town in the Yucatan region of Mexico, offers both an historical and a contemporary understanding of the way external pressures to modernize are often met with forms of resistance that are rooted in rituals and oral tradition. The Maya of the Yucatan have long been drawn into the Mexican state's attempt to create modern Mexican citizens (mestizos). They have also been drawn into the North American and global economy through agriculture and, more recently, tourism and US-based evangelical organizations. Despite the many pressures to turn Mayas into mestizos, the citizens of Maxcanu use subtle forms of resistance, including humour, satire, and language, to maintain aspects of their traditional identity. Maya or Mestizo? skilfully weaves the history of Mexico into a compelling tale of a community caught between tradition and modernity.

Contents:

Nationalism, mestizaje, and anthropology

Organizing the polity : structures of coercion and control

A town in Yucatán : Maxcanú in historical and economic perspective

The Gremio system : the social organization of religious life

Making Maya into mestizo : identity, difference, and cultura regional mestiza

Critical perspectives from below

Yucatán's dancing pig's head (cuch) : parody as a weapon

The journey of way kot : myth as cultural critique

Caught in the spirit : possession, prophecy, and resistance

Linkages in the global economy

Appendix. The tale of Way kot : four versions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781442601413

1442601418

9781442601420

1442601426

OCLC:

466659990

Publisher Number:

bce30870-be6b-46df-8077-a766607e61b4