Place, Power, and Prophecy: Ritual Space and Speech among the Yucatec Maya from Colonial Time to Present Time

Abstract

In this chapter both early Colonial texts mostly written by Europeans, and Yucatec Maya texts such as the Books of Chilam Balam that form a cultural legacy of memory, place, and rituals, are presented and analysed. Special attention is paid to the process of colonisation and religious as well as ritual change, based on these Yucatec Maya sources and Colonial administration sources. Connecting to discussions in ritual studies especially on aspects of performativity and of ritualisation, and to perspectives on power and of othering as well as from intersectionality derived from Postcolonial theory-building, the chapter strives towards grasping and analysing processes of change in Yucatec Maya religious discourse over time. The process of othering in relation to power is clearly visible in the Yucatec Maya discourse as it is constructed and created out of the impact of Colonialism and Christianity since the time of the Conquest. Keywords:colonisation; early Colonial texts; performativity; power; religious; ritual change; ritual place; Yucatec Maya texts