Overview

In contrast to western notions of the soul as the essence or most native part of a human being, the Tzeltal-speaking Indians of Chiapas, Mexico, regard the soul first and foremost as an Other. Made up of beings that personify the antithesis of their native selves-animals such as hummingbirds or jaguars, atmospheric phenomena like lightning bolts or rainbows, or spirits of European appearance such as Catholic priests or evangelical musicians-Tzeltal souls represent the maximum expression of that which is alien. And because their souls enfold that which is outside and Other, the Tzeltal contain within themselves the history of their relationship with Europeans from the beginning of the Spanish conquest to the present time. Thus, to understand the Indian self opens a window into the Tzeltal conception of culture and community, their notions of identity and alterity, and their interpretation of interethnic relations and types of historical memory. In this pathfinding ethnography, which was originally published in Spanish in 1996 as Ch'ulel: una etnografia de las almas tzeltales and is now extensively rewritten and amplified in English, Pedro Pitarch offers a new understanding of indigenous concepts of the soul, personhood, and historical memory in highland Chiapas. Exploring numerous aspects of indigenous culture and history-medicine and shamanism, geography and cosmology, and politics and kinship among them-he engages in a radical rethinking of classic issues in Mesoamerican anthropology, such as ethnicity and alterity, community and tradition, and change and permanence.

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Reviews

It is beautifully written and produced and is clearly a unique and important contribution to Mesoamerican scholarship and beyond...In a land of intensive studies and restudies, the findings of The Jaguar and the Priest are instructive, salutary, and profound. - Thor Anderson, San Francisco State University, American Anthropologist

It is beautifully written and produced and is clearly a unique and important contribution to Mesoamerican scholarship and beyond...In a land of intensive studies and restudies, the findings of The Jaguar and the Priest are instructive, salutary, and profound. - Thor Anderson, San Francisco State University, American Anthropologist This very rich, relevant and significant contribution to the ethnography of souls is not exactly about the jaguar and the priest, but about the concept of 'folds' and the body in Tzeltal ontology. It is about the identity of the Mayan community of Cancuc in Chiapas, Mexico, belonging to the Tzeltal language group.[...] Thanks to the vision of the editors of this series, this magnificent text is now available to the English-speaking scientific community. The title unfortunately does not do justice to the profound content of the text and might be confused with similar commercial titles already on the market. This book should not only be used for courses in ethnography, anthropology of the body, Maya archaeology, history, and religious studies, but should be read by anyone who desires a greater understanding of Mesoamerican indigenous past and present. - Bulletin of Latin American Research

"""It is beautifully written and produced and is clearly a unique and important contribution to Mesoamerican scholarship and beyond...In a land of intensive studies and restudies, the findings of The Jaguar and the Priest are instructive, salutary, and profound."" - Thor Anderson, San Francisco State University, American Anthropologist ""This very rich, relevant and significant contribution to the ethnography of souls is not exactly about the jaguar and the priest, but about the concept of 'folds' and the body in Tzeltal ontology. It is about the identity of the Mayan community of Cancuc in Chiapas, Mexico, belonging to the Tzeltal language group.[...] Thanks to the vision of the editors of this series, this magnificent text is now available to the English-speaking scientific community. The title unfortunately does not do justice to the profound content of the text and might be confused with similar commercial titles already on the market. This book should not only be used for courses in ethnography, anthropology of the body, Maya archaeology, history, and religious studies, but should be read by anyone who desires a greater understanding of Mesoamerican indigenous past and present."" - Bulletin of Latin American Research"

Author Information

Pedro Pitarch is Professor of Anthropology at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and Invited Researcher at the Instituto de Estudios IndÍgenas in Chiapas. He has edited or coedited several books, among them Human Rights in the Maya Region: Global Politics, Moral Engagements, and Cultural Contentions.

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