Maya Language and Culture

Anth 259

Norbert O. Ross

Fall 2003

COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction. The Class explores both Maya ethnography as well as Maya language. We will be reading topical and regional ethnographic work on the Maya of Mexico and Guatemala. The course explores both the historical foundations of today’s Maya cultures, looking both at similarities and regional differences, their causes and consequences. This will be done through lectures, student presentations and most of all discussion of common readings. About one third of the class will be dedicated to Maya language and specifically Tzotzil Maya. Again, we will be working in a lecture seminar style translating common texts I prepared for class work. We will use this language course to explore some common features of Maya languages.

Structure of the class. Given the small size of the class, in most of the course we will be working in a graduate seminar style. This means most of your achievements in class will be based on your readings! We will have common readings that will be discussed during classes. Therefore, student’s participation is essential to our success and it is of utmost importance that you come prepared to class. Rather than coming unprepared don’t come at all (both will be reflected in the grade!).

Readings. Required Books for this course:

N. Farriss (1984) Maya Society under Colonial Rule. Oxford.

G.P. Gonzalez (2001) A Mayan Life. Rancho Palos Verdes.

G. Gossen (1999) Telling Maya Tales. London.

T. Fisher & B. McKenna (1996). Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala. Austin.

J. Rus et al. (2003) Mayan Lives, Mayan Utopias: The indigenous people of Chiapas and

the Zapatista Rebellion.

In addition to readings from these books we will be reading selected articles. These articles will be provided to you either as electronic files (you can download them via the Acorn access to online journals) or as hard copies.

Other sources. For the group projects as well as for the final papers you might consult a set of journals available at the library (some of them online): Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Human Organization, American Ethnologist, Journal of Latin American Research etc. An invaluable source is also the Handbook of Middle American Indians. The handbook consists of overview chapters that are very helpful in getting started. Although the initial handbook entries are somewhat outdated, they still give a good overview and starting point. There is a recent (2000) update / supplementary. There are also several Encyclopedias that are helpful to get started, such as the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8 Middle America and the Caribbean.

Especially for the research papers as well as the research project the Internet might provide some valuable information. However, there is no Peer-review on the Internet, meaning that usually you can use sources only if you back them up further (or if (1) the Website is an official website, or (2) the point is about the website). Still, you might find great pictures, maps, descriptions, and get an idea of how different groups are represented these days. For maps and general census data by state and ethnicity you can use the Web Site of the INEGI (for Mexico) http://www.inegi.gob.mx/inegi/default.asp

For language distribution and basic description you can go to http://www.sil.org/mexico/ for Mexico. The site gives short descriptions as well as grammars and vocabularies! There is next to nothing on Guatemala. This site is accompanied by an ethnographic description / overview at http://www.ethnologue.com.

In general students will be asked to lead the discussion, e.g. give a summary of the readings and come up with either problems he / she had with the readings or relevant questions. At times, I will post questions regarding the readings and usually I will sum up some of our discussions at the end of the class. Again, this is not a lecture class! Still, some readings will be accompanied by lectures. For some of the readings students will be asked to write reaction papers. These papers are intended to help you focus your thoughts and come prepared to class. At the same time they allow me to recognize your efforts and advances in class. Reaction papers are not summaries of the readings! In the reaction paper you will discuss one or several major points of the readings. Discussing means you will explain why you agree / disagree with the paper and / or what other thoughts / questions the paper stimulated in you. Reaction papers are due at the day we discuss the reading. If students come prepared to class and participate actively in the discussions the discussion papers will be enough to grade your class participation. However, if this is not the case I will use pop-quizzes to get an idea about individual student’s advances. Class participation and reaction papers make for 30% of the grade (and obviously attendance is required).

Research Projects “Mapping the Maya World.” We will conduct a research project as a group. The work consists of creating an HTML file that gives an overview of Maya cultures. The basis of this file will be a map of the Maya area, locating the different Maya groups / languages. For several of the groups we will establish a basic bibliography, search for Web-Sources (Pics, Text, Links) and provide basic ethnographic descriptions. While each student will be responsible for one ethnic group everyone has to work on the layout of the Map and the different sources. This part of the class will familiarize you with the Maya area, the location of different groups etc. At the end of the class each of you should be able to locate: (1) national boundaries, (2) major rivers in the area, and (3) major language groups. Everyone will be searching for similar information and collaboration is a must. This part of the class will make up for 20 % of the final grade. (If successful the project will be launched into Cyberspace.)

Final Paper. Each student will write a final research paper (6-10 pages; 14 Font; 1.5 spacing), which can either be an ethnographic description of an ethnic group or based on a specific topic. Either has to be discussed with me during office hours. For your final paper you can work on the same ethnic group as for the research project! Outlines of the papers are due: 03.03.04, the final paper is due 04.26.04 (no late hand-ins accepted!). The final paper will account for 30% of your final grade. I encourage you to hand me draft versions of your paper for comments. This can only help to improve your paper (it will not be counted against you!)

Class Presentations. Each student has two class presentations in the course of this semester: (1) An 10-15 minutes presentation to the class (class 7&8) that provides ethnographic description of a Maya group (can be the same as for the final paper and the research project; get my approval first!). We might encounter some of these groups in further readings later in the class. Therefore, the presentations will familiarize us with different Maya cultures, providing the background for later readings. At the first day of class I will identify reading groups of students. These groups are each in charge of readings very carefully one part of the Nancy Farris book and report about it in class (class 18 / 19). Every student has to have read the whole book by then, still presentations are in small groups and only about one part of the book.

Introduction to Tzotzil Maya. Parts of the class will be dedicated to an introduction into Tzotzil Maya. This will be done on the basis of a lecture / seminar during which we will be examining texts. These texts have been made up (by the instructor) for class-instruction and are intended to provide an idea about the structure of the language as well as a basic vocabulary. In addition, some of the texts will provide the background to talk about Tzotzil Maya ethnography. We will be examining the texts in class and students will be required to translate the texts at home (for the next language class). This part of the class will be concluded with a little exam. The exam and the participation during the language class will account for 20% of your final grade. During this part of the class I will be also introducing several general features of Maya languages.

Grading: 30% class participation / reaction paper (Farriss book presentation;

quizzes, if needed)

30% final paper

20% research project

20% language intro participation and exam

In all the work I use the honors code (copy phrase from last time). The reaction paper as well as the final paper are individual projects and can not be conducted as groups!

In addition to the general requirements outlined above, graduate students will be writing book reviews on three books (from the list of required books). Book reviews have to follow guidelines from any of the major anthropological periodicals (Current Anthropology; American Anthropologist). They should be between 3 and 5 pages long.

A note on reading for this class: Reading is not only summarizing texts, but to actively engage with them! Be brave and dare to doubt and question, even what appears to be written by great scholars! Also, use the class discussions and comments to ask your questions. Remember, there are no stupid questions! The reading load for this class is relatively heavy. As you can see, there is little reading at the beginning of the class. However, this changes toward the end. During this introductory period you will be working on your “ethnic group.” In addition, you will be assigned to a study group to read and present one part of the N. Farriss book (everyone has to read the whole book!). In addition at the last day of class we will be talking about the book “A Maya Life.” It is your responsibility to have these (and all the other) readings done in time! Also, there are some readings you can download from e-journals through the library. If you have trouble doing so let me know and I will get you an electronic copy. However, it is your responsibility to get the reading in time! Unless I hear from you, I will assume that everything is going well.

Overview of the class:

For the purpose of this class we will be focusing on Maya groups in Mexico and Guatemala.

Part I (class 1 through 5) is a general overview of the linguistic distribution and some geography of the Maya area, followed by an outline of the three main geographical and cultural areas: Yucatán and the Guatemala Lowlands, The Highlands of Chiapas, and the Highlands of Guatemala.

Aim: At the end of these three classes you should be able to (1) locate the areas on a map, (2) give a general description of the cultures and the geography, (3) know some of the major anthropologists who worked in the area, and (4) identify and locate major cities and rivers.

Part 2 (class 6-10). In this class we will continue our overview by looking at different Maya groups and getting started with the Tzotzil Maya language course. We will be focusing on Maya groups that later will be reappear in our readings during the semester. At the same time, the student presentations will be part of our Mapping the Maya Project and initiate students work toward their final paper.

Aim: Getting familiar w. specific Maya groups as well as some general features of Maya life. Get a first start in understanding the structure of Maya languages and Tzotzil Maya in particular.

Part 3 (Class 11-16). In this section we will be talking about the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas (1994) as well as Cultural Activism in Guatemala, pointing at the different histories of the two areas. The discussions will be led in the light of two talks given by Eloise Ann and Brent Berlin (U of Georgia) about indigenous politics and ethnobotanical research.

Aim: Understanding international / national but also local / ethnic politics and how they play out differently in different historical contexts.

Part 4 (Class 17-21) of the class is dedicated to N. Farriss book Maya Society under Colonial Rule. The reading groups will present their part of the book to the rest of the class.

Aim: Becoming more familiar with Yukatek Maya society and the impact of the colonial system on Mayan culture. We continue with the language course and the group project.

Part 5 (Class 22-27). During this section of the class we will be looking at specific topics, such as Dispute regulation, witchcraft, religion and religious conversion.

Aim: Understanding processes of social regulations as well as what happens when the situation changes.

Part 6 (Class 28-30) is dedicated to wrap up the language course, the research project and the class as a whole. In the last class we will be looking at the novel by G.P. Gonzalez “A Mayan Life.” We will locate this text in the wider frame of the semester readings.