City of Kings

Written in 1960, Castellanos wrote these stories to show what life was often like for Mayan descendants in Chiapas. This translation is from 1993. This short story collection is

Most of the stories focus on a Tzotzile character or community, and Castellanos shows how they are treated by the Ladinos--as peons they are employed but not paid (essentially enslaved); how they "know their place", staying off sidewalks and out of stores; how they expect nothing but poor treatment. One story focuses on an orphaned young Ladino woman who comes from Mexico City for a job at a clinic and is horrified by what she sees; the longest and last story focuses on the jostling for position between the Catholic church and American Protestant show more missionaries--both supposedly serving the natives, but really they only serve themselves and their employees.

The introduction to this book describes Castellanos as a Ladina who had a "[painful] self conscious awareness of her own acts of cultural interpretation". This book is certainly interesting and this is not a topic--the 20th century history of the Mayan descendants--that I know much about and is definitely something I would like to read more on, especially from within that community. I do know that many people from Chiapas and Central America still do not speak only their mnative Mayan-related language and not Spanish, as it is a continuing issue in my local school district. show less