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Title: The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town by Robert S. Carlsen ISBN: 0-292-71194-8 Publisher: University of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: Tragedy and Triumph in a Guatemalan Town
Comment: Robert Carlsen: The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
E. Michael Mendelson writes: The subject of this extremely well written and readable book is Santiago Atitlan, the largest town of the Tzutujil Indians on one of the world's most beautiful volcanic lakes: Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The town has long been famous with tourists and with anthropologists who have been studying it since at least the Nineteen Twenties. One of the principal deities in the Maya-Christian religious syncretism of Atitlan-the Maximon or Mam-even made Time Magazine coverage when it was attacked by Catholic clergy in the 1950s.
In a sense, the attempted conquest of the Maya and Maya resistance to it have continued from the 16th century Spanish Conquest down to the 20th century Civil War (in most ways a war against the Maya Indians) and Carlsen does a brilliant job of investigating four centuries of both continuity and change. In the last half century, a major crisis has been developing on the lake due to increased population and shortage of land. The move of so many local Maya from agriculture to commerce may be the reason why, Carlsen argues, traditional native religion-agriculture based-is having a hard time surviving against Orthodox and Charismatic Catholicism, militant Evangelical Protestantism, and contemporary media-driven culture. Commerce is not doing sufficiently well to save the town when set in the context of Guatemalan capitalism, itself vulnerable to increasing globalization. Further undermining the situation has been the Civil War, culminating in the December 2nd 1990 massacre of civilians by the Army-though local pride in forcing the Army out the town as a result of the massacre remains strong.
While this is Carlsen's main concern here (one is sure there will be further books), he manages to include a great deal of fresh and resonant information on Atiteco traditions. There is, among much else, a wonderful chapter on the central Tzutujil concept of "Flowering Mountain Earth," linking Sun, Corn, and Humans in an ideology descended straight from the great pre-Spanish classic text Popol Vuh, as well as a condensed but most insightful essay on the continuing cult of Sacred Bundles in Atitlan. Like all good anthropologists, Carlsen achieves a delicate balance between empathetic participation and objective study. His long dedication to the town is evident in the depth and warmth of his vision. The book is blessedly free of jargon and is illustrated with a wealth of excellent photographs. It cannot be too highly recommended.
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Title: Aztec and Maya Myths (Legendary Past Series) by Karl Taube ISBN: 029278130X Publisher: University of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1993 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Tecpan Guatemala: A Modern Maya Town In Global and Local Context by Edward F. Fischer, Carol Elaine Hendrickson ISBN: 0813337224 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Scribes, Warriors, and Kings: The City of Copan and the Ancient Maya, Revised Edition by William L. Fash, Barbara W. Fash ISBN: 050028282X Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: 30 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala (ILAS Critical Reflections on Latin America Series) by Edward F. Fischer, R. McKenna Brown ISBN: 0292708513 Publisher: University of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Native Tours: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism by Erve Chambers ISBN: 1577660897 Publisher: Waveland Press Pub. Date: 22 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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