Latin American Cultures

Anthropology 257.01 - Spring 2001

Lecture: T/Th: 12:45-2:05, Goodnow Hall Rm 105

Instructor: Monty Roper

305 Goodnow Hall

Office phone: 269-3017

e-mail: roperjm@grinnell.edu

Office Hours: W 9-10:50 and Tu/Th 2:15-5:00. During office hours, anyone is welcome to stop by without an appointment. I will also be happy to schedule appointments during non-office hours. If you are having problems with course materials for any reason, I strongly encourage you to come see me.

Getting in touch with me: If you desperately need to get in touch with me and I am not in my office, you may call me at home any day between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. My phone # is 236-1402. You can also e-mail me anytime. I check my e-mail frequently.

Course Description and Goals: In this course, we will read a number of ethnographies in order to examine a small handful of distinct and diverse cultural groups from different geographic and environmental regions of Latin America. Our focus will be on contemporary indigenous and peasant communities, not on pre-Hispanic populations, Latin American states, or popular culture. In examining these different cultural groups, we will pursue several related goals contemporaneously.

  1. First, we will review some detailed ethnographic information on each of the cultures or groups of cultures we examine (e.g. subsistence, social and political organization, gender relations, family and kinship, religion, etc.), considering the forms and functions of these institutions, the nature of their integration, their relation to geographic region, and the similarities and differences between cultures.
  2. Secondly, for each culture or grouping of cultures that we examine, we will focus on one or more key themes of significance to Latin America in general. In some cases this will include a more detailed examination of a particular cultural institution (such as kinship and community relations), while in others, it will address an important modern issue (such as development and environmental degradation).
  3. In addition, one theme that we will give particular attention to for each of the groups will be how cultures are changing as they are becoming increasingly integrated into the global system.
  4. The final goal of the course is to gain a more detailed understanding of ethnographic research and writing as a major tool of cultural anthropology, and to critically consider the texts we read as representations of "others". The ethnographies chosen for this course are diverse in their approach to representing the cultural groups under consideration.

Required Texts

The ethnographies that we will read include the following:

  1. Jeffrey Cohen 2000, Cooperation and Community: Economy and Society in Oaxaca
  2. Timothy Knab 1998, A war of witches: a journey into the underworld of contemporary Aztecs
  3. Rigoberta Menchu et al. 1987, I Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Women in Guatemala
  4. Lesley Gill 1994, Precarious Dependencies
  5. Louis Faron 1986, The Mapuche Indians of Chile
  6. Conrad Phillip Kottak 1998, Assault on Paradise: Social Change in a Brazilian Village
  7. Cleaude Levi-Strauss et al. 1992, Tristes Tropiques

Reserved Readings

I will also assign additional readings as we go that will be available in the library and in the Classics reading room on the 3rd floor of ARH. Please do not remove the copies from Goodnow. There are photocopy machines in the library and outside of the Classics reading room.

Course Requirements

  1. Paper 1: (15% Due Feb 23rd) You will write a 5-7 page paper examining some significant issue or topic for Latin America that cuts across cultural and/or national boundaries. This topic should be anthropological in its approach, and you must get approval from me for the topic. You should do this ASAP.
  2. Midterm exam: (25% Due April 3rd) You will have a take-home midterm covering the first half of the course.
  3. Paper 2: (15% Due May 5th) Your final paper will be a critical comparative analysis of two of the ethnographies that we have read for the course.
  4. Exam 2: (25%) The final exam will be given during the final exam period, but will not be cumulative.
  5. Participation: (20%) We will rotate between classes dedicated primarily to lecture on features of the social groups being examined, combined lecture and discussion on key themes, and to classes dedicated principally to open class discussion of the ethnographic approach and manner of representation used. Everyone is expected to keep up with the readings and to come to class prepared to raise questions, participate in discussions, and answer questions raised by me.

    6. As part of the participation grade, small groups of students will take primary responsibility for leading the critical discussions of each ethnography. This does not free the rest of the class from its responsibilities for participation on these days, but will require some extra preparation and reading on the part of those leading the discussion.

  6. Attendance: I will take roll daily. Each student is allowed 3 absences total (excused or unexcused). After this point, you will loose one-half of a letter grade for EACH absence. Any exam or in-class assignment that is missed because of an unexcused absence will receive a zero. There are no exceptions. An excused absence is given only in the case of medical emergencies or death in the family. You must provide written verification within two class periods of returning. You are also responsible for all class material (lectures, in-class projects, assigned readings, films) regardless of excused or unexcused absences. Persistent tardiness to class will not be tolerated and will be marked as absences.

General Course Schedule

Jan 23 – Feb 1: Background Materials

1. Cultural anthropology review

2. Ethnography: theory, research, and (re)presentation

3. A (very) brief history of Latin America

 

Feb 6 - Feb 22: Mexican Indigenous Peasant Communities

1. Zapotec Community of Central Mexico (Theme: cooperation and community)

2. Nahua speakers of Central Mexico (Theme: religion and shamanism)

3. Yucatec Mayan communities (Theme: diversity in ethnic groups)

Paper 1 Due by 5:00 PM on February 23rd

Feb 27 – March 16: Central America

1. Maya of Guatemala (Theme: state violence and repression)

2. Miskito communities of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast (Theme: indigenous forest management and sustainable forestry development)

Exam 1 Due April 3rd In Class

(I will provide early enough to turn in before break if you like)

April 3 – April 13 The Andes

1. Quechua and Aymara of the high central Andes (Themes: highland adaptability, and contested identities in multi-ethnic nations)

2. The Mapuche of Chile

 

April 17 – May 4 The Amazon Region

1. Tribal groups of the central Amazon (Theme: the legacy of the colonial impact)

2. Bolivia’s Multiethnic Indigenous Territory (Themes: Agrarian reform, land tenure, and the political ecology of environmental degradation in the Amazon)

Paper 2 Due: May 5th by 5:00 pm

April 8 – 11

1. Brazilian peasant fishing village (Theme: modernization and the future of Latin America)

Exam 2 – During Final Exam Slot