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

Rarely do ethnographers take such a comprehensive and informed look at the places they work as Loewe has in this book. Based on more than 20 years of anthropological research, Mayan language studies, and an active engagement with local cultural and economic processes, this ethnography offers a panoramic view of Yucatán life, history, and politics—all through the very intimate lens of Maxcanú, a small community at the literal, and figurative, intersection of the global economy. Walter Little, SUNY Albany

Pointing to the now familiar processes of strategic essentialism, revitalization of traditions, witchcraft, nostalgia, and resistance that often occur when modernity and indigeneity mix and meet, Maya or Mestizo? exposes the effects of the global economy on the local—the transformation of ritual to theater and the changing meaning of symbols.... Its accessible style and attention to the Mayas' irreverent humor will appeal to undergraduates. Linking parody with national patrimony, the Eagle Witch with commerce, and performance with the presentation of indigenous culture, it will also attract scholars of Latin America, Folklore, Anthropology, and Performance Studies. Beverly Stoeltje, Indiana University

Rich. Insightful. Witty. A real pleasure to read and so well proportioned. A great introduction to life on the Yucatán peninsula today. Paul R. Sullivan, author of Unfinished Conversations: Mayas and Foreigners between Two Wars and Xuxub Must Die: Lost Histories of a Murder on the Yucatan