Mayas in the marketplace : tourism, globalization, and cultural identity / Walter E. Little.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Little, Walter E., 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cakchikel Indians--Commerce.

Cakchikel Indians.

Cakchikel Indians--Economic conditions.

Cakchikel Indians--Social conditions.

Antigua Region (Guatemala)--Social conditions.

Antigua Region (Guatemala).

Antigua Region (Guatemala)--Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (333 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Austin, Texas : University of Texas Press, 2004.

Summary:

Selling handicrafts to tourists has brought the Maya peoples of Guatemala into the world market. Vendors from rural communities now offer their wares to more than 500,000 international tourists annually in the marketplaces of larger cities such as Antigua, Guatemala City, Panajachel, and Chichicastenango. Like businesspeople anywhere, Maya artisans analyze the desires and needs of their customers and shape their products to meet the demands of the market. But how has adapting to the global marketplace reciprocally shaped the identity and cultural practices of the Maya peoples? Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork, Walter Little presents the first ethnographic study of Maya handicraft vendors in the international marketplace. Focusing on Kaqchikel Mayas who commute to Antigua to sell their goods, he explores three significant issues: how the tourist marketplace conflates global and local distinctions. how the marketplace becomes a border zone where national and international, developed and underdeveloped, and indigenous and non-indigenous come together. how marketing to tourists changes social roles, gender relationships, and ethnic identity in the vendors' home communities. Little's wide-ranging research challenges our current understanding of tourism's negative impact on indigenous communities. He demonstrates that the Maya are maintaining a specific, community-based sense of Maya identity, even as they commodify their culture for tourist consumption in the world market.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Subjectivity and Fieldwork among Kaqchikel Vendors

Chapter 1 Guatemala as a Living History Museum

Chapter 2 Place and People in a Transnational Borderzone City

Chapter 3 Antigua Tipica Markets and Identity Interaction

Chapter 4 Mercado de Artesania Compania de Jesus and the Politics of Vending

Chapter 5 Gendered Marketplace and Household Reorganization

Chapter 6 The Places Kaqchikel Maya Vendors Call Home

Chapter 7 Home as a Place of Exhibition and Performance in San Antonio Aguas Calientes

Chapter 8 Marketing Maya Culture in Santa Catarina Palopo

Conclusion: Traditions and Commodities

Epilogue

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-292-75982-7

OCLC:

1269269167