Unfinished Conversations: Mayas and Foreigners between Two Wars [Paperback]

Paul Sullivan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although their first uprising in 1847 was put down, Maya Indians were hunted in the forest by Mexicans who burned their crops and ambushed families well into the 20th century. A mix of history, travelogue and ethnographic field research, this episodic narrative throws into sharp relief a people who now live in peace but who believe a future apocalypse is possible. Yale anthropologist Sullivan shows how the Mayas and foreign intruders--soldiers, merchants, spies, diplomats, tourists--teetered between menace and friendship, betrayal and reconciliation. He juxtaposes Mayan poems, prophecies and conversations, as well as old photographs, maps and eyewitness testimonies. Sexual banter, love and romance among the Mayas make for interesting observations here.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

From the time of the Caste Wars of 1848 several groups of Yucatan Mayas have openly challenged Mexican claims to their territory; like their ancestors, they foretell a new beginning, not too far in the future, possibly through war. Sullivan's absorbing account of these rebel Mayas picks up the story of the Spanish conquest where Nancy Farriss ended her recent Maya Society Under Colonial Rule (LJ 8/84). Surviving correspondence, mostly between anthropologist Sylvanus Morely and Mayan Captain Cituk and Lieutenant Zuluub, tells a compelling tale from both sides about the post-Columbian encounter between Native Americans and European intruders. Sullivan skillfully weaves this archival data with varied strands of scholarship, including his own anthropological field work, into one of the best books in recent years on the clash of Western and Indian cultures. Scholarly but highly readable, this book should circulate well in both public and university libraries.
- William S. Dancey, Ohio State Univ., Columbus
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 14, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520072448
• ISBN-13: 978-0520072442
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime, February 25, 2001

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Pablo (Hamilton, ON CAN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unfinished Conversations: Mayas and Foreigners between Two Wars (Paperback)

This book succeeds on many levels. It is a travelogue, a history, a social study, and a prophesy. It follows the relationship of the great Mayanist, Sylvanius Morley, with the Maya of Quintana Roo. Showing both the political and personal motivations of both parties the work unfolds like a beautiful flower. It raises question both cosmological and profane. From the Mayan conception of the "end of days" to American and European political intervention in Latin American affairs this work is crucial to understanding how the Mayan maids, bartenders, taxi-drivers, et al, view us gingos as we run roughshod over the indigenous culture in places like Cancun. A bell-weather for cultural awareness and understanding.