Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... México profundo : reclaiming a civilizationby Guillermo Bonfil Batalla
None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This has to be the best book on the true history of Mexico ever written. Almost heartbreaking as Batalla describes how Spain conquered the Native Americans of Mexico, this book will change the way you think about what it means to be Mexican. ( ) no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher Series
This translation of a major work in Mexican anthropology argues that Mesoamerican civilization is an ongoing and undeniable force in contemporary Mexican life. For Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, the remaining Indian communities, the "de-Indianized" rural mestizo communities, and vast sectors of the poor urban population constitute the México profundo. Their lives and ways of understanding the world continue to be rooted in Mesoamerican civilization. An ancient agricultural complex provides their food supply, and work is understood as a way of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the natural world. Health is related to human conduct, and community service is often part of each individual's life obligation. Time is circular, and humans fulfill their own cycle in relation to other cycles of the universe. Since the Conquest, Bonfil argues, the peoples of the México profundo have been dominated by an "imaginary México" imposed by the West. It is imaginary not because it does not exist, but because it denies the cultural reality lived daily by most Mexicans. Within the México profundo there exists an enormous body of accumulated knowledge, as well as successful patterns for living together and adapting to the natural world. To face the future successfully, argues Bonfil, Mexico must build on these strengths of Mesoamerican civilization, "one of the few original civilizations that humanity has created throughout all its history." No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)972.00497History and Geography North America Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda Mexico, Central America, West Indies, BermudaLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |