After the Second World War mass tourism has increased worldwide and has affected almost all countries. Mexico has become a ‘major tourist destination’ and also ethic tourism has taken off, because tourists became more interested in the indigenous cultures and search for authenticity. Nowadays ethnic tourism makes up ‘10% of Mexico’s tourism sector’ (Van Den Berghe 568). This essay will especially examine the commoditisation of the Maya identity; Maya was ‘a highly developed Mesoamerican culture centred in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico’ (McKay et al 307). Over the last two decades Western tourists have become interested in Indian cultures, traditions and artefacts and they would like to see ‘living Maya culture’, therefore tour guides, tourees, middlemen and artisans have started to work in the ethnic tourism sector. According to Medina ‘The commoditization of culture for tourism may involve the utilization of new channels to access cultural traditions of great antiquity’ (354). To illustrate this: only 20.5% of the inhabitants of San Jose Succotz identifies with the Maya culture (Medina 360). Maya culture is less available through lived experience, because Maya languages and rituals disappear, therefore villagers working in the ethnic tourism sector have to gain knowledge by utilizing other, new channels. Ethic tourism often develops around archaeological sites; tour guides will take tourists to Maya ruins and transfer knowledge that they had gained from the ethnographers, archaeologists, and epigraphers (Medina 362). Some people argue that this ‘staged culture’ is not similar to the ‘authentic culture’. It might be possible that the culture transferred to the tourists at the moment is different from the way Mayans used to do. H... ... middle of paper ... ...e Succotz and San Cristobal is depending on the tourists. Works Cited Barker, Chris. ‘Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice’. SAGE Publications 4th edition 2012 Breglia, Lisa C. ‘Mayas in the Marketplace: Tourism, Globalization and Cultural Identity by Walter E Little’. Wesleyan University, USA. 2004. Van Den Berghe, Piere L. 1992. ‘Tourism and the ethnic division of labour’. University of Washington, USA. pp 234-249 Van Den Berghe, Piere L. 1995. ‘Marketing Mayas – Ethnic Tourism Promotion in Mexico’ University of Washington, USA. pp 568-588 Little, Walter E. 2004 ‘Performing Tourism: Maya Women's Strategies’ Austin: University of Texas, 2004. McKay et al. 2012 ‘A History of World Societies’ Ninth Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s, USA. Medina, Laurie Kroshus. 2003 ‘Commoditizing Culture – Tourism and Maya Identity’. Michigan State University, USA. pp 353-368
In her study of the sixteenth century Maya, Inga Clendinnen quotes Antonio de Ciudad Real, saying “when the Spaniards discovered this land, their leader asked the Indians how it was called; as they did not understand him, they said uic athan, which means, what do you say or what do you speak, that we do not understand you. And then the Spaniard ordered it set down that it be called Yucatan.” Mutual misunderstanding and incommensurability play many key roles in colonial relations between the Spanish missionaries and the Maya. Social and cultural relations and the effects of misunderstanding between the Maya and Spaniards greatly affected daily life and caused great unrest
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
Shrouded in mythology and mystery, and frequently solely the focus of academic and archaeological exploration, the ancient Maya remain relatively misunderstood by contemporary culture-one needs to look no further than the endless array of alarmist 2012-centric texts that topped last year's best-seller lists, or commercialized salves and potions touting antiquated Mayan cures, to experience the general misconceptions about the remarkable civilization first
The article written by Alexis Celeste Bunten called “Sharing culture or selling out?” talks about the theory of “commodified persona” or the “self commodification” of a tourism worker in Sitka and how capitalism has influenced the way a tour guide is presented. Chapter eleven in Charles C. Mann’s book called “1491, New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus” is a slight summary of the second half of the book which talks about how similar Indians were more advanced than the colonists and that we should accept the fact that indigenous people and their societies have influenced American culture.
Mexican civilization is very much affected due its contact. with France, New Orleans of the USA.”Design, style and gastronomy are expressions that show the vibe of Yucatan, sentiment relevance more than its personal kingdom.”(4).
The Sacramento Bee. (n.d.). Mexico Launches Mayan Tourism Campaign for 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from mexicomeetingsnetwork.com: http://www.mexicomeetingsnetwork.com/news/mexico-launches-mayan-tourism-campaign-2012
This refers to a period when the Mayan civilization flourished, and extended from 300 to roughly 900 A.D (Miller 52). Because of our image of classical antiquity, the word “Classic” implies the heights of cultured accomplishment. In the classic period, we envision musicians filling the streets with celestial harmonies, poets praising the universe under arches designed by the greatest architects who ever lived. And this is the image Mayanists had in mind when they adopted the term “Classic” in the 1950s. At around A.D. 300 in our calendar, the first inscriptions appeared in Maya sites. There were no awkward preliminary attempts. Even the earliest were beautiful--it was as though the gods had delivered them complete. Then, after 600 years, they ceased. The sites in this period indeed seemed “Classic”—the Maya had been at their best. It truly seems possible that all the wonders thought to mark the Classic period had similarly appeared completely and suddenly, like a rabbit from a magician’s hat (Culbert 162). In this paper I will try to analyze Mayan architecture by relating some of its major components to the reader. “Temples, pyramids, and ball courts seem to be major themes in Classic Mayan architecture. The actual physical location of these buildings in relation to one another, and the elements of their construction are also a major part of understanding Classic Mayan architecture.” (Liz 1-6).
Initially, the Mayas covered a large territory during their peak period (250-900 C.E.) that consisted in southern Mexico (primarily the states of Tabasco, Yucatán, Campeche, Chiapas and Quintana Roo), western...
Standish, Peter (2009). The States of Mexico : A Reference Guide to History and Culture. (p. vii) Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com
Taylor, Jacqueline Sanchez. “Se x Tourism in the Carribean.” Tourism and Sex: Culture, Commerce and Coercion . Ed. Stephen Clift and Simon Carter. London; New York: Pinter, 2000 Clift. 187 -215.
The Mayan Civilization dates to thousands of years old. When people think of the Mayan’s they mostly think of the Mayan calender, which is the one we use now in days. According to our text book “The Cultures”, states “that it takes exactly 52 yrs. of 365 days for a given day to repeat itself.” When we think of the Mayan’s that’s not all that we should think about. Their history goes on beyond that. Mayans were typically those from central America and Mexico who had a completely indigenous way of living. According to our textbook “The Humanities Culture, Continuity & Change”, at around 900 ce, The Mayan civilization collapsed. “Some reasons include overpopulation and accompanying ecological degradation, political competition, along with war”.
Andrews, George. Maya Cities placemaking and urbanization. 1st ed. oklahoma: universit o oklahoma, 1975. 1-435. Print.
...as mayas: los efectos de género, etnia, pobreza, y la residencia en la educación en Guatemala (pp. 145-175). Nueva York: Consejo de Población.
From 2000 BC to 900 AD, located in Mesoamerica, the Maya Civilization possessed many successes, especially throughout the Classic period. The Maya Civilization maintained individual states that governed themselves. As a result of individual cities, many things were discovered, such as new ways of farming, math, and astronomy. The Maya Civilization can be divided into three periods, the Preclassic, the Classic, and the Post classic. Through these periods the Maya rose to it’s height, becoming a very successful empire. The Maya Empire was able to gain and maintain power through trade, the development of math and astronomy, and the use of resources the Maya obtained around them.
Tourism is known to contribute to the social and cultural changes in host societies. It creates obvious effects upon the economy as well as the physical environment of a destination. The tourism industry has been ridiculed due to the negative and positive impacts and causes it causes to host destinations. An extensive range of literature declares that the tourism industry has contributed a positive role when it comes to the social-economic development of many destinations (Matheison and Wall, 2006).In contrast many other literature claims that it can create negative impacts on the environment, culture and society of a host destination (Sharpley, 1999). In recent years cultural tourism has become extremely popular with tourists in search of experiencing different cultures. Due to the large amount of tourist travelling in search of culture this can cause impacts to a destination the impacts that are caused is depends upon varies factors such as the attitudes, values and beliefs which a person brings with them as well as those of the residence of the host destination when interacting with each