The Story of All Poor Guatemalans

Stoll, David

doi:10.4324/9780429497582-1

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Even the most careful of sympathetic ethnographies, for example, have been criticized by their subjects as undermining their political objectives (Warren 1998). Accounts of Guatemalan history, which arose from the mouths of indigenous Maya leaders through their Western anthropological intermediaries, have been criticized as misrepresentations (Menchú and Burgos-Debray 1984;Stoll 2008). These criticizers have then been critiqued themselves for undermining the political and social justice objectives of marginalized peoples all in the name of the Western ideal of objective truth (Arias 2017).…”

Section: Interpreting Indigenous Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction

MacNeill¹

2020

Indigenous Cultures and Sustainable Development in Latin America

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Section: Interpreting Indigenous Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction

MacNeill¹

2020

Indigenous Cultures and Sustainable Development in Latin America

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“…More broadly, Stephen () sees such testimonies as a way for silenced groups to speak and be heard and thereby enact new visions for political and cultural identity. David Stoll () challenged this privileged position of indigenous testimonies in his accusations that Rigoberta Menchú lied in her testimony, prompting various authors to note the need for more serious attention to Maya forms of talking about the past (Arias ; Gossen ; Grandin ; Montejo ; Pratt ; Rus ; Smith ; Warren ). However, almost twenty years after this initial controversy, significant work remains to be done in understanding Maya testimonies within the context of Maya speech genres and cultural contexts of meaning.…”

Section: Defining the Maya Subject Of Testimonymentioning

confidence: 99%

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

García

2019

American Anthropologist

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This article takes an ethnographically engaged, discourse-centered approach to questions of representation and cultural difference in democratic process in postwar Guatemala. When José Efraín Ríos Montt became the first former head of state convicted of genocide within his own country, in 2013, Ixil Maya witnesses who testified against him became international human rights icons. However, the trial was marked by difficulties in communication between Ixil witnesses and non-Ixil lawyers, judges, and observers. "Miscommunications" resulted from diverging forms of speech that are deeply connected to different identities and ways of experiencing and understanding history. Discursive expectations within the courtroom limited recognition of Ixil ways of speaking and, consequently, of Ixil subjects. These expectations also obscured Ixil contestations to systems of power both inside and outside the courtroom. This analysis calls attention to the central role of language in processes of justice and political activism in solidarity with marginalized populations. [discourse-centered approach, genocide trial, Ixil, Maya, Guatemala]RESUMEN Este artículo, toma una aproximación centrada en el discurso, etnográficamente comprometida con cuestiones de representación y diferencia cultural en procesos democráticos en la Guatemala de postguerra. Cuando José Efraín Ríos Montt se convirtió en el primer exjefe de estado condenado por genocidio en su propio país, en 2013, los testigos mayas ixiles quienes testificaron en su contra se convirtieron eníconos internacionales de derechos humanos. Sin embargo, el juicio fue marcado por dificultades en la comunicación entre los testigos ixiles y los abogados, jueces y observadores no-ixiles. Los "errores de comunicación" resultaron de las formas divergentes de hablar que están profundamente conectadas a diferentes identidades y formas de experimentar y entender la historia. Las expectativas discursivas dentro de la sala del tribunal limitaron el reconocimiento de las formas de habla ixil y, consecuentemente, de los sujetos ixiles. Estas expectativas también oscurecieron las contestaciones de los ixiles a los sistemas de poder tanto dentro como fuera de la sala del tribunal. Este análisis llama la atención al rol central del lenguaje en procesos de justicia y activismo político en solidaridad con poblaciones marginadas.[aproximación centrada en discurso, juicio por genocidio, Ixil, Maya, Guatemala]

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“…The most famous example of such a form of ethnographic writing is undoubtedly I, Rigoberta Mench u: An Indian Woman in Guatemala (1984), which was written by the Franco-Venezuelan anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray on the basis of 25 hours of intensive interviewing that she carried out with Mench u during the course of a single week in January 1982. The book subsequently became controversial (see Stoll, 1999;Beverley, 2004), at least partly because of the way that I, Rigoberta Mench u was researched and written. Presented as the voice of Mench u, the text was clearly edited and organised by Burgos-Debray in a particular manner, despite the fact that the latter had no ethnographic knowledge about Guatemala.…”

Section: Ethnography and Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnographies and/of violence

Jones

Rodgers

2019

Ethnography

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This paper examines ethnography as both a methodological practice and a form of writing, and specifically how ethnography as a textual product may shape and be shaped by the methodological process. We argue that a critical discussion of this relationship is especially important in relation to the ethnography/ethnographies of violence. Examining a range of recent texts, we consider whether different forms of violence necessitate, or have prompted, different styles of ethnographic writing. The paper raises questions about how decisions to adopt particular styles of writing can affect the substance of empirical material, and we reflect on the use of testimonio, biography and quasi-novel, as well as issues of anonymity and composite characterisation. Finally, the paper introduces the special issue contributions from five authors, who were invited to contribute reflections on the multiple ways in which their field method has intersected with representation, textually and intellectually.

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The Story of All Poor Guatemalans

Cited by 7 publications

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Introduction

Introduction

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

Ethnographies and/of violence

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