Telling Maya Tales

Telling Maya Talesoffers a reflexive, multi-scenario account of the Chamula Tzotzils of Chiapas, Mexico, in the era of the Zapatistas, Protestants, and NAFTA. The author actually tells two closely interwoven tales, the first of which involves San Juan Chamula, whose many colonies constitute the largest and most influential Maya community of Highland Chiapas. Through their stories, ritual dramas and political action, various expressions of their ethnic affirmation are analyzed against the contested social and political space of modern Mexico. The second tale is autobiographical, an examination of the author's own life, ethnographic storytelling, and a career that spans the past 30 years in close association with San Juan Chamula. Gary H. Gossen considers how and what truth is represented in an ethnographer's narrative.