ABSTRACT

Studying Gaspar Pedro González’ A Mayan Life offers North American students an introduction to the material and spiritual consequences of colonialism as well as strategies for challenging its domination. This essay explains important historical contexts that clarify the novel’s strategy for Maya revitalization. It also analyzes the ways the novel negotiations the two strategies for revitalization that shaped the Maya response to Guatemala’s genocidal civil war. The popular rights or popular left groups, including the guerrillas, emphasized economic exploitation and land rights while the culturalists focused on strengthening Maya identity, language and religion. These strategies, sometimes intersecting but often in conflict, then played out in the Maya Revitalization Movement. This essay also presents methods for helping students gain ethnographic insights into Maya cultural practices in traumatic times. Through this understanding they can better grasp of the problematic of social change. A Mayan Life presents students a multifaceted testimony of oppression and resistance as well as a manifesto and model for change. It is relevant to indigenous people throughout the hemisphere as well as their allies.

摘要

研究加斯帕佩德罗·冈萨雷斯”一个 玛雅生活向北美学生介绍殖民主义的物质和精神后果以及挑战其统治的策略。这篇文章解释了重要的历史背景，阐明了小说的玛雅复兴策略。它还分析了小说谈判两种振兴战略的方式，这些战略塑造了玛雅人对危地马拉种族灭绝内战的反应。民众权利或民众左翼团体，包括游击队，强调经济剥削和土地权利，而文化主义者则专注于加强玛雅人的身份、语言和宗教。这些策略有时相互交叉但经常发生冲突，然后在玛雅复兴运动中发挥作用。本文还介绍了帮助学生在创伤时期深入了解玛雅文化习俗的方法。通过这种理解，他们可以更好地把握社会变革的问题。《 玛雅生活》向学生展示了压迫和抵抗的多方面见证，以及变革的宣言和模式。它与整个半球的土著人民及其盟友有关。