Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics Creating Context Andean Cultures

This collection of previously unpublished papers explores various indigenous Andean languages and cultures in the context of new anthropological thinking about "texts" and textuality. The contributors focus on the ways socially subordinated cultural groups construct distinctive historical identities. A major concern in current anthropological thinking is that the method of recording or translating into writing a society's cultural expressions--dance, rituals, pottery, the social use of space, et al--cannot help but fundamentally alter the meaning of the living words and deeds of the culture in question. Consequently, recent researchers have developed more dialogic methods for collecting, interpreting, and presenting data. These new techniques have yielded much success for anthropologists working in Latin America, especially in their efforts to understand how economically, politically, and socially subordinated groups use culture and language to resist the dominant national culture and to assert a distinct historical identity. This collection addresses these issues of "texts" and textuality as it explores various Latin American languages and cultures.