History and Culture of Mesoamerica

Prof. Anthony P. Andrews
Office: College Hall 212 (x4327)
Office Hours: Wednesday, 1-3

andrews@ncf.edu

Spring 2008
Anthropology Lab
Tues & Fri: 12:30-1:50

http://faculty.ncf.edu/andrews

Syllabus available at website above






 

This is a seminar on the Post-Conquest cultures of Mesoamerica. It will cover a variety of issues, from the impact of the Spanish conquest to studies of peasant communities and contemporary urban society. Some general background information will be presented in lectures; however, the primary focus will be on class discussion of the readings and ongoing research projects. Participants will be expected to keep abreast of the reading assignments. Evaluation will be based on class participation, class presentations and a research paper.

The Research Project

Each participant, in consultation with the instructor, will select any topic of his or her choice that is related to the subject matter of the course. The topic may cover a geographical area (e.g., Oaxaca, Guatemalan Highlands), a particular ethnic group (e.g., Huichol, Quiché), a particular institution (e.g., the cargo system, compadrazgo), an important historic event (e.g., a native uprising, the abolition of encomiendas, land reform) or any other subject pertinent to Mesoamerican history and ethnography. The topic should be researched in depth; a compilation of the available information and a summary of the major issues pertaining to the subject should form the core of the report; to this core, the researcher will be expected to add his or her own analysis and evaluation of our present understanding of the subject.

Seminar participants should select their research topic and clear it with the instructor during the month of February. Volumes 6-8 of the Handbook of Middle American Indians are an excellent source for topics. A one-page outline and list of references will be due the last class before Spring Break; at that time, each participant will make a progress report to the class. Further progress reports will continue throughout the semester, and final presentations of project results will be scheduled the last week of classes. The final written report -- 15 to 20 pages, plus references, typed double-spaced -- will be due the last day of class. A guideline for citation procedure and formatting of the list of references is attached.

Texts

Carlsen, Robert S.

1997     The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town.

Carmack, Robert, Janine Gasco, and Gary Gossen

2007     The Legacy of Mesoamerica.  History and Culture of a Native American Civilization.  [2nd Edition]

Chiñas, Beverly L.

1997     The Isthmus Zapotecs:  A Matrifocal Culture of Mexico [2nd edition]

Meyer, Michael C., William L. Sherman, and Susan Deeds

2007    The Course of Mexican History.  [8th edition]

Riding, Alan

1989     Distant Neighbors.  A Portrait of the Mexicans.

Additional Texts on Reserve

Handbook of Middle American Indians ( H.M.A.I. )

1967-69     Volumes 6-9

Joseph, Gilbert M., and Mark D. Szuchman (eds.)

1996     I Saw a City Invincible.  Urban Portraits of Latin America.

MacLeod, Murdo J., and Robert  Wasserstrom (eds.)

1983     Spaniards and Indians in Southeastern Mesoamerica.

Moseley, Edward H., and Edward .D. Terry (eds.)

1980     Yucatán. A World Apart.

Paz, Octavio

1961     The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Potter, Jack M., May N. Diaz, and George M. Foster (eds.)

1961    Peasant Society:  A Reader.

 

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF TOPICS & READINGS

Note:  ER = Electronic Reserves

WEEK 1:  Introduction & Background, Geography, & Prehispanic Background

Feb 5

Carmack et al:  Chapters 1-3.

Feb 8

Riding:  Chapters 1 and 2.

Paz, Octavio

1961     The Labyrinth of Solitude:  Chapters 2-4 [ER]

WEEK 2:  The Spanish Conquest

Feb 12

Meyer et al:  Chapters 6-7.

Feb 15

Carmack et al:  Chapter 4.

WEEK 3:  The Colonial Period

Feb 19

Meyer et al:  Chapters 8-14.

Carmack et al:  Chapter 5.

Feb 22

MacLeod, Murdo J., and R. Wasserstrom (eds.)

1983     Spaniards & Indians in Southeastern Mesoamerica.  Read articles by Farriss, Jones, Wasserstrom, & MacLeod. [ER]

WEEK 4:  The Early 19th Century -- The Emergence of Nation States

Feb 26

Meyer at:  Chapters 15-21.

Carmack et al:  Chapter 7: 255-64.

Feb 29

Antochiw, Michel

1997     Brief Review of the Caste War of Yucatán.  Saastún, 0 (1): 4-18. [ER]

WEEK 5:  The Late 19th Century -- Liberalism & Dictators

Mar 4

Meyer et al:  Chapters 22-25

Carmack et al:  Chapter 7: 264-95

Mar 7

Rus, Jan

1983     Whose Caste War?  Indians, Ladinos and the Chiapas "Caste War" of 1869.  In Spaniards & Indians in Southeastern Mesoamerica  (M. J. MacLeod & R. Wasserstrom, eds.): 127-68. [ER]

Wells, Allen

1982     Family Elites in a Boom-and-Bust Economy. The Molinas and Peóns of Porfirian Yucatán.  Hispanic American Historical Review, 62 (2): 224-53. [ER]

WEEK 6:  The 20th Century -- Revolution & Modernization

Mar 11

Turner, John Kenneth

1909     The Slaves of Yucatan.  The American Magazine, Vol. 68 (May-October): 525-38. [ER - also online at http://books.google.com/books?id=Td4vAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA538&dq=%22The+Slaves+of+Yucatan%22#PPA525,M1  Later published as Chapter 1 in Barbarous Mexico, by J.K. Turner (1910).

Meyer et al:  Chapters 26-34.

Mar 14 

Riding:  Chapters 3-9.

Carmack et al:  Chapter 8: 296-315.

WEEK 7:  Survey of Modern Native Cultures

Mar 18

Riding:  Chapter 10.

Carmack et al:  Chapter 8: 315-46

Mar 21

Vogt, Evon Z.

1969     Introduction,  Handbook of Middle American Indians,  Vol.. 7: 3-17.

Marino Flores, Anselmo

1967     Indian Population and its Identification.  Handbook of Middle American Indians,  Vol. 6: 12-25.

SPRING BREAK  (Start reading Chiñas & Carlsen books)

WEEKS 8:  Peasant Society

Apr 1

Carmack et al:  Chapter 9.

Wolf, Eric R.

1955       Types of Latin American Peasantry:  A Preliminary Discussion.  American Anthropologist, 57 (3):  452-60.  [ER]

Apr 4

Wolf, Eric R.

1957     Closed Corporate Peasant Communities in Mesoamerica and Central Java.  Southwestern Journal of Anthropology (currently Journal of Anthropological Research), 13: 1-18.  [ER -- also in Peasant Society:  A Reader (J. Potter, M. Diaz, & G. Foster, eds.):  245-60. Boston, 1967.

Carrasco, Pedro

1961     The Civil-Religious Hierarchy in Mesoamerican Communities: Pre-Spanish Background and Colonial Development.  American Anthropologist, 63: 483-97. [ER]

Rus, Jan, and Robert  Wasserstrom

1980     Civil-Religious Hierarchies in Central Chiapas: A Critical Perspective.  American Ethnologist, 7 (3): 466-78. [ER]

WEEK 9:  Peasant Communities:  The Nahua & Zapotec

Apr 8

Madsen, William

1969     The Nahua.  Handbook of Middle American Indians,  Vol. 8: 602-37.

Apr 11

Chiñas, Beverly L.

1992     The Isthmus Zapotecs:  A Matrifocal Culture of Mexico.  2nd edition.

WEEK 10:  Peasant Communities, Tradition & Change:  The Maya

Apr 15

Villa Rojas, Alfonso

1969     The Maya of Yucatan. Handbook of Middle American Indians,  Vol. 7: 244-75.

Re Cruz, Alicia

1996     The Thousand and One Faces of Cancun.  In Urban Anthropology &Studies of Cultural Systems & World Economic Development, 25 (3): 283-310. [ER]

Rus, Jan

1995     Local Adaptation to Global Change:  The Reordering of Native Society in Highland Chiapas, Mexico, 1974-1994. European Review of Latin American & Caribbean Studies, 58 (Jun 1995): 71-89. [ER]

Apr 18

Carlsen, Robert S.

1997     The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town.

WEEK 11:  Modern Times & Gender Issues

Apr 22

Bacc // Reading Day -- No class.

Apr 25

Meyer et al: Chapters 35-39.

Carmack et al:  Chapters 9 and 12.

WEEK 12: Recent Issues & Urbanism

Apr 29

Riding: Chapters 6-12.

May 2

Riding: Chapter 13.

Kandell, Jonathan

1996     Mexico's Megalopolis. In I Saw a City Invincible.  Urban Portraits of Latin America (G.M. Joseph & M.D.Szuchman, eds.): 181-201. [ER]

WEEKS 13 & 14 (May 6, 9, & 13): Class Presentations