Zinacantan, Chamula, and Chenalho are neighboring Mayan communities situated in highland Chiapas, Mexico, near the city of San Cristobal Las Casas. The inhabitants of the three communities speak dialects of the Tzotzil language. Five religious fiestas, celebrated by these communities in honor of their saints, provide the data for Victoria Bricker's comparative study of ritual humor.
In Chenalho and Chamula performances of ritual humor are concentrated in the five-day period of a single fiesta, while in Zanacantan similar performances are distributed over threee fiestas. In these...
Zinacantan, Chamula, and Chenalho are neighboring Mayan communities situated in highland Chiapas, Mexico, near the city of San Cristobal Las Casas....
Victoria Bricker shows that "history" sometimes rests on mythological foundations and that "myth" can contain valid historical information. Her book, which is a highly original critique of postconquest historiography about the Maya, challenges major assumptions about the relationship between myth and history implicit in structuralist interpretations. The focus of the book is ethnic conflict, a theme that pervades Maya folklore and is also well documented historically.
The book begins with the Spanish conquest of the Maya. In chapters on the postconquest history of the Maya, five...
Victoria Bricker shows that "history" sometimes rests on mythological foundations and that "myth" can contain valid historical information. Her boo...
