The Blood of Guatemala

Description:

Summary:"Over the latter half of the twentieth century, the Guatemalan state slaughtered more than two hundred thousand of its citizens. In the wake of this violence, a vibrant pan-Mayan movement has emerged, one that is challenging Ladino (non-indigenous) notions of citizenship and national identity. In The Blood of Guatemala Greg Grandin locates the origins of this ethnic resurgence within the social processes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century state formation rather than in the ruins of the national project of recent decades. Focusing on Mayan elites in the community of Quetzaltenango, Grandin shows how their efforts to maintain authority over the indigenous population and secure political power in relation to non-Indians played a crucial role in the formation of the Guatemalan nation. To explore the close connection between nationalism, state power, ethnic identity, and political violence, Grandin draws on sources as diverse as photographs, public rituals, oral testimony, literature, and a collection of previously untapped documents written during the nineteenth century. He explains how the cultural anxiety brought about by Guatemala's transition to coffee capitalism during this period led Mayan patriarchs to develop understandings of race and nation that were contrary to Ladino notions of assimilation and progress. This alternative national vision, however, could not take hold in a country plagued by class and ethnic divisions."--Book cover

subjects: American history: c 1800 to c 1900,  American history: from c 1900 -,  Anthropology,  History of specific racial & ethnic groups,  Indigenous peoples,  20th century,  c 1800 to c 1900,  History: American,  Central America - History,  Quichâe Indians,  History,  History - General History,  Minority Studies - Race Relations,  Latin America - Central America,  Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies,  Anthropology/Ethnography,  History, Latin American,  Latin American Studies,  Guatemala,  Quiche Indians,  Race relations,  History & Theory - General,  Latin America - General,  Social conditions,  Mayas,  Politics and government,  Quiché Indians,  Maya's,  Relations interethniques,  Conditions sociales,  Indiens,  Geschichte,  Politieke cultuur,  Elites,  Histoire,  Relations avec l'Etat,  Politique et gouvernement,  Etnische betrekkingen,  Quiché (Indiens),  Quiche (Indiens),  Guatemala, politics and government,  Guatemala, social conditions

Places: Guatemala