Mayas in the Marketplace: Tourism, Globalization, and Cultural Identity (review)

Walter E. Little's Mayas in the Marketplace explores how the Kaqchikel Maya of Guatemala "incorporate themselves into the global while continuing to reinscribe significance in the local" (10). In other words, his focus is on how the Maya understand and use their identity to sell handicrafts to tourists in the marketplaces of Antigua, Tecpán, Panajachel, Santiago Atitlan, Quetzaltenango, Chichicastenango, and a number of other cities and towns throughout the country. It is important to note that the vendors Little studied were not affected by the violence and killings that swept through Guatemala in the 1980s and early 1990s, which has enabled them to retain ties to their hometowns, and continue daily life with little consideration of the Guatemalan government and national politics. In his introduction, Little draws on anthropological studies of globalization, such as Appadurai's (1996) Modernity at Large and Ferguson's (1997) Culture, Power, Place, to emphasize how anthropology has been preoccupied with diasporic peoples, and has paid little attention to seasonal migrants like the Kaqchikel, who leave their traditional homes to sell tipíca in far away cities, often renting apartments where they set up their stands, and yet maintain close ties to their hometowns to the degree that they would never consider Antigua or any of the other cities where they sell their handicrafts their "home."

Little has conducted research in Guatemala over a span of sixteen years, but the majority of this book is based on his field research from 1996 through 1998. He employs an eclectic methodology involving interviews and surveys with vendors in the Compañía de Jesús Artisan Marketplace, although he primarily relies on field notes, audio, and video recordings to document his observations. During his time in Guatemala, he immersed himself in the vendor culture by participating in their daily activities, such as setting up and breaking down stalls, and attending meetings of the vendor association.

In the first two chapters, Little focuses on vendor practices and the tourism infrastructure in Guatemala. Most interestingly, perhaps, is his elaboration on tourist expectations and how these expectations sometimes are at odds with the vendors. For instance, many tourists did not consider Mayan males as authentically indigenous, because they frequently dressed in Western style clothes, while their wives, daughters, and sisters wore traje (indigenous clothing), fulfilling their preconceived notion of what a Maya ought to be. Tourists, Little argues, receive their preconceptions about indigenous peoples and their traditional lives by places such as Disney World, for "the world viewed as an exhibition renders culture, place, and people as controlled, contained, organized, and unchanging" (38). Not surprisingly, many tourists were upset when they realized that Mayas had "modern" interests, including world politics and American sports. Similarly, they also had linguistic expectations of the Maya vendors, and were taken aback when vendors actually addressed them in their respective language. Many tourists went to the market strictly to "see Indians" and observe "Indian culture" (119), without any intention to make purchases. For vendors, this lack of interest in an economic transaction is problematic, and they try to circumvent it through various strategies, including striking up short-term friendships to sell their goods, or agreeing to pose for photographs, etc. Bargaining, however, is not part of the strategy. Little confirmed that the Maya had not changed their attitudes towards bargaining in more than sixty years, as they refused to partake in it, as Sol Tax (1937) experienced in the 1930s. This disdain for bargaining is due to the fact that Maya tipíca vendors see themselves as artisans, and not just vendors, and are insulted when tourists continually offer lower prices for their art. Most would rather have no deal than to undersell their crafts. Another more recent strategy some families have used is to actually invite tourists into their home to show them how the handicrafts are produced, or...