Dissertation Research: Language and Ideology and Local Identity in Guatemala

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This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from Stanford University. The project explores the relationship between language and identity in Guatemala, focusing on the tension between the model of pan-Mayan identity supported by urban intellectuals versus the model of local-language-group Mayan identity supported by most rural dwellers. The student will do a community study in a highland town whose residents claim to be Tzutujil Maya even though they speak Kiche, a different but related Maya language. The student will census the households of the town; conduct participant observation in school programs and language workshops focusing on Mayan language as well as in normal social settings like the marketplace; conduct focused interviews on people's beliefs about language; and conduct some sorting tasks from cognitive anthropology to elucidate the local model of language groupings. After this intensive study in one community the student will conduct briefer comparative research in 10 communities speaking 6 different Mayan languages. This research is important because it will advance our understanding of how local `folk` use scientific discourse, in the context of historical arguments as well as contemporary social behavior, to further their nationalist goals. This case study will provide valuable information to advance theories of language nationalism in other parts of the world. In addition the project will add to our expertise about this important region of the hemisphere.