Living Ruins: Native Engagements with Past Materialities in Contemporary Mesoamerica, Amazonia, and the Andes
edited by Philippe Erikson and Valentina Vapnarsky
University Press of Colorado, 2022 eISBN: 978-1-64642-286-9 | Cloth: 978-1-64642-285-2 Library of Congress Classification F1219.7 Dewey Decimal Classification 972.801
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK Ruins and remnants of the past are endowed with life, rather than mere relics handed down from previous generations. Living Ruins explores some of the ways Indigenous people relate to the material remains of human activity and provides an informed and critical stance that nuances and contests institutionalized patrimonialization discourse on vestiges of the past in present landscapes.
Ten case studies from the Maya region, Amazonia, and the Andes detail and contextualize narratives, rituals, and a range of practices and attitudes toward different kinds of vestiges. The chapters engage with recently debated issues such as regimes of historicity and knowledge, cultural landscapes, conceptions of personhood and ancestrality, artifacts, and materiality. They focus on Indigenous perspectives rather than mainstream narratives such as those mediated by UNESCO, Hollywood, travel agents, and sometimes even academics. The contributions provide critical analyses alongside a multifaceted account of how people relate to the place/time nexus, expanding our understanding of different ontological conceptualizations of the past and their significance in the present.
Living Ruins adds to the lively body of work on the invention of tradition, Indigenous claims on their lands and history, “retrospective ethnogenesis,” and neo-Indianism in a world where tourism, NGOs, and Western essentialism are changing Indigenous attitudes and representations. This book is significant to anyone interested in cultural heritage studies, Amerindian spirituality, and Indigenous engagement with archaeological sites in Latin America.
Contributors: Cedric Becquey, Laurence Charlier Zeineddine, Marie Chosson, Pablo Cruz, Philippe Erikson, Antoinette Molinié, Fernando Santos-Granero, Emilie Stoll, Valentina Vapnarsky, Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Philippe Erikson is professor and former chair of the anthropology department at the University of Paris Nanterre, and currently editor-in-chief of the Journal de la Société des Américanistes. He has carried out long-term fieldwork in Brazil and in Bolivia among the Matis (since 1984) and the Chacobo (since 1991), and published widely on Amazonian anthropology.
Valentina Vapnarsky is research director at the CNRS and holds a chair of linguistic anthropology at the EPHE, Paris. She is currently president of the Société des Américanistes and director of the EREA research center at University of Paris Nanterre. Trained in both linguistics and anthropology, she has done fieldwork in Guatemala (Itza Maya) and Mexico (Yucatec Maya).
REVIEWS
“A major, ethnographically focused, empirically based, and theoretically cutting edge contribution to the field of critical heritage studies that warrants global readership.” —Christian Isendahl,University of Gothenburg
“An illuminating and much-needed contribution to the discussion of the decolonization of cultural studies, Living Ruins shows, in all its intricacies, the basic ambivalence of Native attitudes toward vestiges of the past, oscillating between fascination and fear, patrimonial pride and metaphysical discomfort." —Philippe Descola, Collège de France, author of Beyond Nature and Culture
"This pathbreaking collection shows how vestiges of the past become sites of ontological encounter where contrasting understandings of time, materiality and "life" are played out. Living Ruins interrogates these issues with ethnographic depth, theoretical sophistication and respect." —Catherine Allen, The George Washington University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Living Ruins and Vertiginous Vestiges: Amerindian Engagements with Remnants of the Past | Philippe Erikson and Valentina Vapnarsky
1. Patrimonialization, Defilement, and the Zombification of Yanesha Cultural Heritage (Peruvian Amazonia) | Fernando Santos-Granero
2. Maya Living Ruins: The Hidden Places of Interlocking Temporalities | Valentina Vapnarsky
3. Deserted Ruins? Maya Tseltal and Ch’ol Engagement with Salient Spaces | Cédric Becquey and Marie Chosson
4. Where Past and Future Meet... Abandoned Village Sites as Cruxes of Political, Historical, and Eschatological Narratives among the Chácobo of Bolivian Amazonia | Philippe Erikson
5. Grounds for Political Claims: Earthworks and Anthropogenic Soils as Cultural Heritage and Sources of Territorial Legitimation in Brazilian Amazonia | Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen and Emilie Stoll
6. Inca Vestiges: From Prehumans to New Agers | Antoinette Molinié
7. The Topography of Time: Pre-Hispanic Ruins, Topographical Vestiges, and the Controversial Andean New Year (North Potosí, Bolivian Andes) | Laurence Charlier Zeineddine
8. Disparate Ancestors: Convergent Pasts and the Dynamics of Heritage in the Southern Andean Altiplano (Uyuni, Bolivia) | Pablo Cruz
Index
List of Contributors
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
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Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Living Ruins: Native Engagements with Past Materialities in Contemporary Mesoamerica, Amazonia, and the Andes
edited by Philippe Erikson and Valentina Vapnarsky
University Press of Colorado, 2022 eISBN: 978-1-64642-286-9 Cloth: 978-1-64642-285-2
Ruins and remnants of the past are endowed with life, rather than mere relics handed down from previous generations. Living Ruins explores some of the ways Indigenous people relate to the material remains of human activity and provides an informed and critical stance that nuances and contests institutionalized patrimonialization discourse on vestiges of the past in present landscapes.
Ten case studies from the Maya region, Amazonia, and the Andes detail and contextualize narratives, rituals, and a range of practices and attitudes toward different kinds of vestiges. The chapters engage with recently debated issues such as regimes of historicity and knowledge, cultural landscapes, conceptions of personhood and ancestrality, artifacts, and materiality. They focus on Indigenous perspectives rather than mainstream narratives such as those mediated by UNESCO, Hollywood, travel agents, and sometimes even academics. The contributions provide critical analyses alongside a multifaceted account of how people relate to the place/time nexus, expanding our understanding of different ontological conceptualizations of the past and their significance in the present.
Living Ruins adds to the lively body of work on the invention of tradition, Indigenous claims on their lands and history, “retrospective ethnogenesis,” and neo-Indianism in a world where tourism, NGOs, and Western essentialism are changing Indigenous attitudes and representations. This book is significant to anyone interested in cultural heritage studies, Amerindian spirituality, and Indigenous engagement with archaeological sites in Latin America.
Contributors: Cedric Becquey, Laurence Charlier Zeineddine, Marie Chosson, Pablo Cruz, Philippe Erikson, Antoinette Molinié, Fernando Santos-Granero, Emilie Stoll, Valentina Vapnarsky, Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Philippe Erikson is professor and former chair of the anthropology department at the University of Paris Nanterre, and currently editor-in-chief of the Journal de la Société des Américanistes. He has carried out long-term fieldwork in Brazil and in Bolivia among the Matis (since 1984) and the Chacobo (since 1991), and published widely on Amazonian anthropology.
Valentina Vapnarsky is research director at the CNRS and holds a chair of linguistic anthropology at the EPHE, Paris. She is currently president of the Société des Américanistes and director of the EREA research center at University of Paris Nanterre. Trained in both linguistics and anthropology, she has done fieldwork in Guatemala (Itza Maya) and Mexico (Yucatec Maya).
REVIEWS
“A major, ethnographically focused, empirically based, and theoretically cutting edge contribution to the field of critical heritage studies that warrants global readership.” —Christian Isendahl,University of Gothenburg
“An illuminating and much-needed contribution to the discussion of the decolonization of cultural studies, Living Ruins shows, in all its intricacies, the basic ambivalence of Native attitudes toward vestiges of the past, oscillating between fascination and fear, patrimonial pride and metaphysical discomfort." —Philippe Descola, Collège de France, author of Beyond Nature and Culture
"This pathbreaking collection shows how vestiges of the past become sites of ontological encounter where contrasting understandings of time, materiality and "life" are played out. Living Ruins interrogates these issues with ethnographic depth, theoretical sophistication and respect." —Catherine Allen, The George Washington University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Living Ruins and Vertiginous Vestiges: Amerindian Engagements with Remnants of the Past | Philippe Erikson and Valentina Vapnarsky
1. Patrimonialization, Defilement, and the Zombification of Yanesha Cultural Heritage (Peruvian Amazonia) | Fernando Santos-Granero
2. Maya Living Ruins: The Hidden Places of Interlocking Temporalities | Valentina Vapnarsky
3. Deserted Ruins? Maya Tseltal and Ch’ol Engagement with Salient Spaces | Cédric Becquey and Marie Chosson
4. Where Past and Future Meet... Abandoned Village Sites as Cruxes of Political, Historical, and Eschatological Narratives among the Chácobo of Bolivian Amazonia | Philippe Erikson
5. Grounds for Political Claims: Earthworks and Anthropogenic Soils as Cultural Heritage and Sources of Territorial Legitimation in Brazilian Amazonia | Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen and Emilie Stoll
6. Inca Vestiges: From Prehumans to New Agers | Antoinette Molinié
7. The Topography of Time: Pre-Hispanic Ruins, Topographical Vestiges, and the Controversial Andean New Year (North Potosí, Bolivian Andes) | Laurence Charlier Zeineddine
8. Disparate Ancestors: Convergent Pasts and the Dynamics of Heritage in the Southern Andean Altiplano (Uyuni, Bolivia) | Pablo Cruz
Index
List of Contributors
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE