Women who live evil lives : gender, religion, and the politics of power in colonial Guatemala / by Martha Few.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Few, Martha, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Guatemala--Antigua--Social conditions--17th century.

Women.

Women--Guatemala--Antigua--Social conditions--18th century.

Women healers--Guatemala--Antigua--History--17th century.

Women healers.

Women healers--Guatemala--Antigua--History--18th century.

Wizards--Guatemala--Antigua--History--17th century.

Wizards.

Wizards--Guatemala--Antigua--History--18th century.

Inquisition--Guatemala--Antigua.

Inquisition.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (203 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Women Who Live Evil Lives documents the lives and practices of mixed-race, Black, Spanish, and Maya women sorcerers, spell-casters, magical healers, and midwives in the social relations of power in Santiago de Guatemala, the capital of colonial Central America. Men and women from all sectors of society consulted them to intervene in sexual and familial relations and disputes between neighbors and rival shop owners; to counter abusive colonial officials, employers, or husbands; and in cases of inexplicable illness. Applying historical, anthropological, and gender studies analysis, Martha Few argues that women's local practices of magic, curing, and religion revealed opportunities for women's cultural authority and power in colonial Guatemala. Few draws on archival research conducted in Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain to shed new light on women's critical public roles in Santiago, the cultural and social connections between the capital city and the countryside, and the gender dynamics of power in the ethnic and cultural contestation of Spanish colonial rule in daily life.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Contested Powers: Gender, Culture, and the Process of Colonial Rule

Chapter 2 Society and Colonial Authority in Santiago de Guatemala

Chapter 3 Magical Violence and the Body

Chapter 4 Illness, Healing, and the Supernatural World

Chapter 5 Female Sorcery, Material Life, and Urban Community Formation

Chapter 6 Conclusion

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [165]-184) and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79872-5

OCLC:

191935479