Dissertation Research: Language and Ideology and Local Identity in Guatemala

本课题涉及一位来自斯坦福大学的人类学学生的论文研究。 该项目探讨了危地马拉语言与身份之间的关系，重点是城市知识分子支持的泛玛雅身份模式与大多数农村居民支持的当地语言群体玛雅身份模式之间的紧张关系。 学生将在一个高地城镇进行社区研究，该城镇的居民声称自己是Tzutujil Maya，尽管他们说Kiche，这是一种不同但相关的玛雅语言。 学生将对城镇的家庭进行普查;在学校课程和语言研讨会中进行参与观察，重点是玛雅语言以及市场等正常社会环境;对人们对语言的信仰进行重点访谈;并从认知人类学中进行一些分类任务，以阐明当地的语言分组模式。在一个社区进行深入研究后，学生将在10个讲6种不同玛雅语言的社区进行简短的比较研究。 这项研究是重要的，因为它将促进我们的理解，当地的“民间”如何使用科学话语，在历史争论的背景下，以及当代社会行为，以进一步他们的民族主义目标。 这一个案研究将为语言民族主义理论在世界其他地区的发展提供有价值的信息。 此外，该项目将增加我们对这个重要地区的专业知识。

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.