Monumental Ambivalence

by Breglia, Lisa

• ISBN13: 9780292714809
• ISBN10: 0292714807
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

From ancient Maya cities in Mexico and Central America to the Taj Mahal in India, cultural heritage sites around the world are being drawn into the wave of privatization that has already swept through such economic sectors as telecommunications, transportation, and utilities. As nation-states decide they can no longer afford to maintain cultural properties--or find it economically advantageous not to do so in the globalizing economy--private actors are stepping in to excavate, conserve, interpret, and represent archaeological and historical sites. But what are the ramifications when a multinational corporation, or even an indigenous village, owns a piece of national patrimony which holds cultural and perhaps sacred meaning for all the country's people, as well as for visitors from the rest of the world? In this ambitious book, Lisa Breglia investigates "heritage" as an arena in which a variety of private and public actors compete for the right to benefit, economically and otherwise, from controlling cultural patrimony. She presents ethnographic case studies of two archaeological sites in the Yucatán Peninsula--Chichén Itzá and Chunchucmil and their surrounding modern communities--to demonstrate how indigenous landholders, foreign archaeologists, and the Mexican state use heritage properties to position themselves as legitimate "heirs" and beneficiaries of Mexican national patrimony. Breglia's research masterfully describes the "monumental ambivalence" that results when local residents, excavation laborers, site managers, and state agencies all enact their claims to cultural patrimony. Her findings make it clear that informal and partial privatizations--which go on quietly and continually--are as real a threat to a nation's heritage as the prospect of fast-food restaurants and shopping centers in the ruins of a sacred site.

Table of Contents

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS	IX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	XI
PART I The Ambivalence of Heritage	1	(56)
Chapter One A NEW APPROACH TO HERITAGE	5	(24)
Chapter Two CARTOGRAPHIES OF PATRIMONY	29	(28)
PART II "Maya Archaeology as the Mayas See It"	57	(150)
Chapter Three CHICHEN ITZA: A CENTURY OF PRIVATIZATION	65	(32)
Chapter Four BY BLOOD OR BY SWEAT: SHAPING RIGHTS TO WORLD HERITAGE	97	(38)
Chapter Five CHUNCHUCMIL: AMBIVALENCE IN A HERITAGE LANDSCAPE	135	(38)
Chapter Six ARCHAEOLOGY, EJIDOS, AND SPACE-CLAIMING TECHNIQUES	173	(34)
Conclusion DOCILE DESCENDANTS AND ILLEGITIMATE HEIRS: THE AMBIVALENCE OF INHERITANCE	207	(6)
NOTES	213	(12)
REFERENCES	225	(12)
INDEX	237