Maya World : Yucatec Culture and Society, 1550-1850 / Matthew Restall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Restall, Matthew, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Social life and customs.

Mayas.

Mayas--Politics and government.

Mayas--History--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 441 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, [1997]

Summary:

This pathbreaking work is a social and cultural history of the Maya peoples of the province of Yucatan in colonial Mexico, spanning the period from shortly after the Spanish conquest of the region to its incorporation as part of an independent Mexico. Instead of depending on the Spanish sources and perspectives that have formed the basis of previous scholarship on colonial Yucatan, the author aims to give a voice to the Maya themselves, basing his analysis entirely on his translations of hundreds of Yucatec Maya notarial documents—from libraries and archives in Mexico, Spain, and the United States—most of which have never before received scholarly attention. These documents allow the author to reconstruct the social and cultural world of the Maya municipality, or cah, the self-governing community where most Mayas lived and which was the focus of Maya social and political identity. The first two parts of the book examine the ways in which Mayas were organized and differentiated from each other within the community, and the discussion covers such topics as individual and group identities, sociopolitical organization, political factionalism, career patterns, class structures, household and family patterns, inheritance, gender roles, sexuality, and religion. The third part explores the material environment of the cah, emphasizing the role played by the use and exchange of land, while the fourth part describes in detail the nature and significance of the source documentation, its genres and its language. Throughout the book, the author pays attention to the comparative contexts of changes over time and the similarities or differences between Maya patterns and those of other colonial-era Mesoamericans, notably the Nahuas of central Mexico.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Contents

Maps and Figures

Tables

1 Introduction

PART ONE: Identity and Organization

2 The Cah: Identity

3 The Cah: Entity

4 Names

5 Government

6 Politics: Faction, Office, and Career

PART Two: Society and Culture

7 Class

8 Daily Life

9 Inheritance

10 Gender

11 Sexuality

12 Religion

PART THREE: Land and Material Culture

13 Settlement

14 Economic and Material Culture

15 Land Description

16 Tenure and Exchange

17 Conflict and Conquest

PART FOUR: Literacy and Language

18 Notarial Purpose and Style

19 Petitions

20 Election Records

21 Quasi-Notarial Genres

22 Language

23 Conclusion

Appendixes

~~

Glossary

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780804765008

0804765006

OCLC:

1312727219