Title

He Followed The Funereal Steps Of Ixtab: The Pleasurable Aesthetics Of Suicide In Newspaper Journalism In Yucatán, Mexico

Keywords

Ix Tab; Maya; Newspaper journalism; Suicide; Yucatán

Abstract

This article argues that the presence of photographs and reports of suicide in Yucatecan "red" journalism functions to portray suicide as a phenomenon occurring exclusively among young indigenous men. It presents a textual analysis of photographs and newspaper articles covering suicides in Yucatán between 2005 and 2010, arguing that, in Yucatán, these images function to generate the idea that Maya people have a cultural predisposition to suicide. This is not to say that there is not a serious problem with Yucatán's elevated suicide rate, which more than doubles the Mexican national average. Rather, in this process of Othering the suicide victim, we lose sight of the social nuances of the reality, conditions, and social construction of suicide that push people to the brink of death with elevated frequency. Moreover, the idea that Maya people are suicidal presupposes the existence of Maya identity-a notion that has itself been problematized. © 2013 by the American Anthropological Association.

Publication Date

7-1-2013

Publication Title

Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology

Volume

18

Issue

2

Number of Pages

251-273

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12019

Socpus ID

84880086338 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84880086338

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