Resistance of meaning: Masking in "The Dance of the Conquest" of Guatemala
Description
In this study I consider a particular sociocultural institution, The Dance of the Conquest, as it is manifested in and around the department of Totonicapan, Guatemala. As much a play as a dance, La Conquista is considered 'the national dance of Guatemala' and belongs to a larger genre of popular ritual theater known as traditional dance. The narrative of the play relates the events surrounding the 1524 defeat of the K'iche' Maya at the hands of Pedro de Alvarado and his army. The dancer/actors are indigenous Maya, and this study primarily concerns ethnic conflict as it is expressed in performance. I argue that ethnicity is not created in isolation but is profoundly embedded in larger sociocultural systems. The dance itself and the way that it presents ethnicity are products of many influences, Pre-Columbian, colonial, and postcolonial. The movement to revive Maya culture in the aftermath of recent violent internal conflict is the latest lens through which participants understand the play. Additionally, in consideration of symbolic ethnic conflict I endeavor to advance the understanding of the real strife that has been a predominant feature of the history of Guatemala To conduct research, I apprenticed the Moreria Nima' K'iche', one of the shops that prepares and rents the masks, costumes, and props necessary for the presentation of traditional dance. Cultural activists are responsible for the very existence of this particular moreria , and these circumstances shaped the research in two important ways. First, and by design, the costumes, the props, and particularly the masks used in The Dance of the Conquest receive the most investigative attention. Second, and by happenstance, I was influenced by (and in a small way participated in) a project to rescue an important part of a community's cultural patrimony