Grieving formestizaje: alternative approaches to Maya identity in Yucatan, Mexico

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.But there is an elegance that comes from being a professional, and another that comes from mestizaje. My grandmother is a great wise woman, who has always taught me how things should be done in order to do them well.

He Followed the Funereal Steps of Ixtab: The Pleasurable Aesthetics of Suicide in Newspaper Journalism in Yucatán, Mexico

“…In my own work (c.f. Reyes‐Foster ), I found that the many Maya and non‐Maya speaking Yucatecans I talked to had bigger things to worry about than their non‐Maya identity or whether they were depicted as suicidal by the media. My interlocutors were mainly concerned with access to steady employment, financial security, and high‐quality medical care.…”

“…While Yucatán's Secretaría de Turismo (secretariat of tourism) has taken on the Ancient Maya as a cornerstone of its tourism industry, the ten‐year‐old Instituto para el Desarrollo de la Cultura Maya del Estado de Yucatán (INDEMAYA), the institute for the development of Maya culture of the state of Yucatán, has taken on the stated mission of creating a “new social order in which the Maya People may overcome the state of marginality and poverty in which it finds itself, and take its place in contemporary history” (INDEMAYA n.d.). It is beyond the scope of the present work to look at this aspect in detail, although the complexity of the “Maya” identity of Yucatán has been addressed by several scholars, for example, by Castañeda and Fallaw () in a special JLACA issue, as well as by Juan Castillo Cocom () and myself (Reyes‐Foster ). Nevertheless, I posit that the prevalence of the motif of Ix Tab in Yucatecan journalism cannot be understood without an awareness of the commercialization of the Ancient Maya and the ubiquity of public relations campaigns that encourage Maya‐speaking Yucatecan people to adopt a Maya identity they have never claimed before…”

“…As in much of Latin America, race and class are intimately intertwined, although class is spoken of much more overtly than race or ethnicity. For further exploration, see Reyes‐Foster .…”

Reclaiming Tangible Heritage: Cultural Aesthetics, Materiality, and Ethnic Belonging in the Maya Diaspora

“…For an analysis of Maya identity, see Armstrong‐Fumero (). Reyes‐Foster () also offers a useful analysis in her work on contemporary Maya identity and mestizaje (the ideology of racial or cultural mixing of Spanish and Indigenous peoples).…”

The Specter of Surveillance: Navigating “Illegality” and Indigeneity among Maya Migrants in the San Francisco Bay Area

“…77For a lively discussion of Yucatec Maya identity, including the role of physical appearance, see Castillo Cocom (), Reyes‐Foster (), and Ayora‐Diaz ().…”