Histories and Stories from Chiapas: Border Identities in Southern Mexico [Paperback]

Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo (Author), Renato Rosaldo (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0292731493 | ISBN-13: 978-0292731493 | Publication Date: July 2001 | Edition: 1st

The 1994 Zapatista uprising of Chiapas's Maya peoples against the Mexican government shattered the state myth that indigenous groups have been successfully assimilated into the nation. In this wide-ranging study of identity formation in Chiapas, Aída Hernández delves into the experience of a Maya group, the Mam, to analyze how Chiapas's indigenous peoples have in fact rejected, accepted, or negotiated the official discourse on "being Mexican" and participating in the construction of a Mexican national identity. Hernández traces the complex relations between the Mam and the national government from 1934 to the Zapatista rebellion. She investigates the many policies and modernization projects through which the state has attempted to impose a Mexican identity on the Mam and shows how this Maya group has resisted or accommodated these efforts. In particular, she explores how changing religious affiliation, women's and ecological movements, economic globalization, state policies, and the Zapatista movement have all given rise to various ways of "being Mam" and considers what these indigenous identities may mean for the future of the Mexican nation. The Spanish version of this book won the 1997 Fray Bernardino de Sahagún national prize for the best social anthropology research in Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Along the border between Mexico and Guatemala in the state of Chiapas live the Mam, descendants of the ancient Mayan people. In this exhaustive ethnographic study, Hern ndez Castillo (Ctr. for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology, Mexico City) expands her 1996 Stanford dissertation on Mam society, practices, rituals, and history, beginning in 1933. She recounts influences of Presbyterian missionaries and the Jehovah's Witnesses; the spread of the "purple disease," or onchocercosis, so prevalent in the coffee plantations; and the period of cultural rescue, or national emphasis on a multicultural society. She also dwells on the rise of women and their role in Mam society, closing with the1994 Zapatista rebellion. Using interviews and firsthand observation, Hern ndez Castillo produces an excellent study of cultural identity despite the burden of excessive acronyms. At the same time, she makes a solid contribution to the historiography of anthropological and ethnological research of the region. Recommended for academic libraries and collections with an emphasis on Hispanic studies. Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"As a multi-layered history of power and identity in Chiapas, this study is without parallel. It offers a richly textured and well-documented history of how the Mam of Chiapas have constructed their own conceptions of identity and citizenship." -Virginia Garrard-Burnett, author of Protestantism in Guatemala: Living in the New Jerusalem

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292731493
• ISBN-13: 978-0292731493
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,935,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.