The Heart of the Matter. Wesley M. Collins

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      Wes Collins reveals patterns of centeredness in various aspects of the Mam language, not only in the lexicon as expected, but in the use of spatial deixis and discourse structure as well. As a linguistic anthropologist, Collins’ goal is to describe centeredness in the language in a way that makes sense to the native speakers: “Without grounding centeredness in the daily lives and speech of the Mam, we run the risk of proving something to ourselves while not shedding any light whatsoever on local custom and categorization.”

      Collins contributes greatly to the age-old discussion about the relationship between language and culture, claiming that centeredness is not only a great cultural value for the Mayan peoples of Guatemala but a grammatical theme in their languages as well. He establishes the connections between the use of linguistic centeredness–illustrated in the morphology, syntax, and discourse structure of Mam–and speakers’ living out of that centeredness in their architecture, dress, health system, religion, and self-awareness. This book is written in a clear, logical manner and brings forward new information that both anthropologists and linguists alike will appreciate.

      Charlotte Schaengold, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University

      Collins’ discussion of health and wellness in the Mam community is especially careful to integrate historical evidence of cultural contact, ethnographic details of community variation, and on-the-ground observation of specific individual examples of the on-going accommodation of multiple strands of knowledge and experience to form a coherent understanding of the world.

      Laura Martin, Ph.D., Professor Emerita (Modern Languages and Anthropology), Cleveland State University; co-author of Culture in Clinical Care

      I wish this book had been available to me a half-century ago when I first began trying to learn Agta, an unwritten language in the Philippines. I highly recommend it as a basic how-to guide to ethnography for university courses in linguistic anthropology. Author Collins is an SIL linguistic anthropologist who has spent the past 30-plus years working among the Maya-Mam. In this book he pulls together what he has learned. Collins also ties germane theories to his thesis, such as ethnography as a method, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, emics and etics, worldview, and Collins’s own notion of “centeredness” as an operating principle of the Maya-Mam people. He does not avoid controversial issues, such as the racist philosophy of Mam as a “lesser language,” Mam as an endangered language today, whether culture drives language, whether the introduction of Christianity is an attack on Mayan religion, etc. I highly recommend to linguistic anthropologists who plan to do research in indigenous communities today that they read this book first!

      Linguisitcs in light of anthropology is how languages should be studied; anthropology in light of linguistics is how culture should be studied.

      Thomas N. Headland, Ph.D., Fellow, American Anthropological Association; and Senior Anthropology Consultant, SIL International

      This book is best viewed on a tablet or computer

      The Heart of the Matter

      Seeking the Center in Maya-Mam Language and Culture

      Wesley M. Collins

      Foreword by Brian D. Joseph

      SIL International®

      Dallas, Texas

      SIL International®

      Publications in Ethnography

      44

      The Publications in Ethnography series focuses on cultural studies of minority peoples of various parts of the world. While most volumes are authored by members of SIL International® who have done enthographic research in a minority language, suitable works by others will also occasionally form part of the series.

      Series Editor

      Mike Cahill

      Volume Editors

      Joyce Park

      Managing Editor

      Bonnie Brown

      Production Staff

      Lois Gourley, Composition Supervisor

      Judy Benjamin, Compositor

      Barbara Alber, Cover Design©

      Cover Photo

      Cover photograph by Natasha Schmale

      Used by permission of the photographer and the two Mam greeters

      © 2015 by SIL International®

      ISBN: 978-1-55671-397-2

      ISSN: 0-0905-9897

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without the express permission of SIL International®. However, short passages, generally understood to be within the limits of fair use, may be quoted without written permission.

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      Contents

       Foreword

       Preface: What to Expect

       Getting Started: The View from a Distance

       1.1 The heart of the matter: Centeredness as a cultural and grammatical theme

       1.2 How might we show that language and culture are cut from the same cloth?

       1.3 Methodology employed

       1.4 Analysis of the data

       1.5 Who cares?

       Some Context for Better Understanding this Book

       2.1 The occasion for research

       2.2 Some comments on the Mam

       2.3 Some comments on the Mam language

       2.4 Mam as an endangered language and efforts at revitalization

       2.5 What’s new in this book?

       Centeredness as Cultural Theme

       3.1 Introduction

       3.2 Health as an instantiation of centeredness

       3.3 From space to place: On the meaning of building

       3.4 Religion as a search for centeredness

       3.5 Conclusion

       Centeredness as Cultural Practice

       4.1 Why ethnography?