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Hidden Transcripts among the Rarámuri: Culture, Resistance, and Interethnic Relations in Northern Mexico
Author(s) -
Levi Jerome M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.90
Subject(s) - isolationism , secrecy , resistance (ecology) , sociology , context (archaeology) , politics , relation (database) , style (visual arts) , epistemology , political science , history , law , philosophy , archaeology , ecology , database , foreign policy , computer science , biology
An understanding of Rarámuri (Tarahumara) cultural style and resistance to domination is enhanced when interpreted in relation to theories of muffled protest and discourse strategies based on dissimulation. In this article, I consider Scott's (1990) notion of discerning everyday resistance through what he calls "hidden transcripts," here in the context of Rarámuri‐Mestizo relations in northern Mexico. Scott's generalizing framework should be tempered in light of discussions of concealment, secrecy, and isolationism in Rarámuri culture. Analysis of the ritual, language, and behaviors associated with Rarámuri secrecy indicates that although the broad outline of his thesis is corroborated, specific elements invite reassessment. When hidden transcripts go public, the most compelling part of Scott's framework is also the weakest, [resistance, secrecy, interethnic relations, political symbolism, Tarahumara, Rarámuri, Mexico]