Grandpa Kewl

Book Review – The Folk Culture of Yucatan, Robert Redfield

Once again, a wonderful addition recommended by the folks at the Alla bookstore in Santa Fe.

Read 10/2010 during the period I worked at the AOC on Congressional Moves.

Some notes:

P 104 – An interesting mixing up of Christianity and the local spiritual systems. A story of the Lord traveling to Glory and lighting a fire at various times. The Jews are condemned (there were no Jews there to condemn) and the tradition continues on Hold Saturday.

P 131 – A commentary on the belief system and the way it was interwoven into the lives of the people: “With such a charter they may be unhappy because unfortunate, but they cannot feel themselves lost.”

P 190 – A description of the patterns of behavior and punishments associated with marriage, sex and unfaithfulness.

P 193 – Discipline in young children

P 211 – The transitions in family relations as one moves from the “civilized” cities (if that is the right word) into the backlands.

P 261 – A critical commentary on the changes in behavior and morality of the “advanced” population. Suffice it to say, the more “civilized”, the less moral.

P 265 – A discussion of the images we wear…symbolic of our awareness of how vulnerable and powerless we are in the world we live in.

A bit on the dry side, but quite informative.

 

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