Maya or Mestizo?: Nationalism, Modernity, and Its Discontents

225 Pages·2012·2.522 MB·English

by  Ronald Loewe

MAYA OR MESTIZO?
TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk
MAYA OR
MESTIZO?
Nationalism,
Modernity,
and its
Discontents
Ronald Loewe
Teaching Culture: UTP Ethnographies for the Classroom
University of Toronto Press
Copyright © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2011
www.utphighereducation.com
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
or stored in a retrieval system, without prior written consent of the publisher—or in the
case of photocopying, a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright Licensing
Agency), One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E5—is an infringement
of the copyright law.
Previously published by Broadview Press in 2008 © John L. Steckley
library and archives canada cataloguing in publication
Loewe, Ronald
Maya or mestizo? : nationalism, modernity, and its discontents / Ronald Loewe.
(Teaching culture : UTP ethnographies for the classroom)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued also in electronic format.
ISBN 978-1-4426-0142-0
1. Mayas—Ethnic identity. 2. Mayas—Social life and customs. 3. Maxcanú
(Mexico)—Social life and customs. 4. Maxcanú (Mexico)—Religious life and customs.
5. Social classes—Mexico—Maxcanú. 6. Maxcanú (Mexico)—Social conditions.
7. Maxcanú (Mexico)—Economic conditions. I. Title. II. Series: Teaching culture
F1435.3.E72L64 2010 305.897’42 C2010-903667-0
We welcome comments and suggestions regarding any aspect of our publications—please
feel free to contact us at [email protected] or visit our Internet site at
www.utphighereducation.com.
North America UK, Ireland, and continental Europe
5201 Dufferin Street Plymbridge Distributors Ltd.
North York, Ontario, Canada, M3H 5T8 Estover Road, Plymouth, PL6 7PY, UK
TEL: [phone]
2250 Military Road FAX ORDER LINE: 44 (0) 1752 202333
Tonawanda, New York, USA, 14150 [email protected]
ORDERS PHONE: [phone]
ORDERS FAX: [phone]
ORDERS E-MAIL: [email protected]
The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing
activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP).
Cover design and interior by Em Dash DesignC
atherine Dorton
Printed in Canada
For Maya and Brandon, the light of my life.
TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk
CONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xxi
Introduction Nationalism, Mestizaje, and Anthropology 1
part i Organizing the Polity: Structures of Coercion and Control
Chapter one A Town in Yucatán:
Maxcanú in Historical and Economic Perspective 15
Chapter two The Gremio System:
The Social Organization of Religious Life 35
Chapter three Making Maya into Mestizo:
Identity, Difference, and Cultura regional mestiza 59
part ii Critical Perspectives from Below
Chapter four Yucatán’s Dancing Pig’s Head (Cuch):
Parody as a Weapon 81
Chapter five The Journey of Way Kot:
Myth as Cultural Critique 103
Chapter six Caught in the Spirit:
Possession, Prophecy, and Resistance 125
Conclusion Linkages in the Global Economy 143
Appendix The Tale of Way Kot: Four Versions 151
Glossary 165
Notes 171
References 185
Index 195
vii
TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
Figure 0.1 My first home Calcehtok, Yucatán during summer of 2007
Figure 0.2 Orange seedlings protected from the hot sun in the ejido
of Calcehtok
Figure 1.1 Map of Yucatán
Figure 1.2 The central plaza in Maxcanú in the summer of 2007
Figure 1.3 Vicente Guerrero
Figure 1.4 Monty, a textile factory that set up shop in 2002; it
currently employs 1,100 workers
Figure 1.5 Remodeled hacienda hotel in Santa Rosa just a few
kilometers from Maxcanú
Figure 2.1 Awaiting the arrival of San Miguel, the Patron Saint of
Maxcanú
Figure 2.2 Re-enactment of the Via Crucis on Easter Sunday in
Maxcanú
Figure 2.3 Procession of San Miguel, Patron Saint of Maxcanú
Figure 2.4 Mestizos finos. Courtesy of the University of Yucatán
Figure 2.5 Gremio de Unión Católica, otherwise known as the Gremio
de Mestizas Devotas
Figure 3.1 “Say No to Drugs”: poster next to an advertisement for
beer near the Capilla Sistina
Figure 3.2 Governess of Yucatán in an elegant terno as Maxcanú
celebrates its 150th anniversary as a town
ix