Title

Grieving for mestizaje: alternative approaches to Maya identity in Yucatan, Mexico

Authors

Authors

B. Reyes-Foster

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Identities-Glob. Stud. Cult. Power

Keywords

Maya; Yucatan; lived lives; identity; culture; ethnicity; ELITE; Cultural Studies; Ethnic Studies

Abstract

This article takes as its point of departure the highly contested theoretical terrain of Maya identity in Yucatan, Mexico. Set in the physical terrain of a state psychiatric hospital, this article uses a framework of identity culled from the narrative of a young woman, Claudina, committed to its wards, to argue that being in-between categories of ethnic identity, an experience she characterises as a painful sense of ambiguous loss, can be fruitfully analysed using an analytical framework of ethnic identity introduced by Claudina herself. Specifically, I argue that categories of identity culled from Claudina's story mestizaje and elegancia represent a valuable opportunity to think about how power dynamics and relationships operate in situations of ambivalent identities and social suffering. To this end, I use Claudina's language as a point of departure for understanding the lived experience of everyday life in Yucatan today.

Journal Title

Identities-Global Studies in Culture and Power

Volume

19

Issue/Number

6

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

657

Last Page

672

WOS Identifier

WOS:000313100900001

ISSN

1070-289X

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