Guatemalan Churches: The Maya Legacy in Organic Façades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Damian
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Music Festivals ◽  
Visual Vocabulary ◽  
Maya Civilization ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
Maya People ◽  
Catholic Churches

Located in the center of Maya civilization and tradition, Guatemala features some of the world’s most spectacular archaeological sites, with extensive pre-Hispanic remains. The Maya of pre-Contact times believed in a pantheistic religion with many gods, and despite violent Spanish subjugation beginning in 1524, many of those traditions still survive. Coerced conversion had mixed results, as the Maya in certain territories often did not replace or abolish their beliefs in favor of Christianity, but rather added this new faith as another layer. This allowed Mayans to participate in their own rituals while maintaining Christian identity, blending religious cultures in a syncretic situation that saw art, music, festivals, and other events as unique and genuine dialogue. Today, contemporary Mayans in Guatemala maintain their linguistic dialects, along with traditional clothing and ceremonies of ancient rituals. The tenacity of the Maya people in upholding their longstanding customs and beliefs is reflected in the architectural embellishments that adorn Guatemala’s many churches. From small parishes to cities, a profusion of organic details is evident on the façades of even newly built Catholic churches. These flourishes exhibit relationships to Mayan glyphs and produce a unique visual vocabulary based on the ancient beliefs that connected man’s relation to nature as inherent to daily life. Disguised within these Christian landmarks, the adornments uncover the Guatemalan people’s enduring commitment to Mayan beliefs, despite waves of forced evangelization throughout their territories.

scholarly journals Contemporary art music and its audiences: Age, gender, and social class profile

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Grebosz-Haring ◽  
Martin Weichbold
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Contemporary Art ◽  
Art Music ◽  
New Music ◽  
Music Festivals ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural Movements ◽  
Motivational Structure

Contemporary art music (CAM) has experienced significant aesthetic changes in recent decades and has acted as a seismograph for socio-cultural movements. New music festivals have had a significant influence on the development and perception of this music by promoting aesthetic pluralism, introducing new concert formats, and expanding to unusual venues. These movements induce changes in the social patterns of CAM consumers and have an impact on the traditional high culture audience profile. This article relies on audience surveys at three European CAM festivals and draws on Bourdieu’s (1984) and Schulze’s (1992) class and lifestyle concepts in order to explore demographic characteristics and social class in CAM audiences. As the results show, consumption of CAM is still a distinctive practice sustained by an exclusive community having considerable education and “musical capital”. Nevertheless, the festivals show heterogeneity in the age structure and motivational structure of attendees as well as in specific patterns regarding knowledge, experience and active involvement with CAM. The analysis shows that aesthetic pluralism can lead to greater social openness regarding social class affiliation.

O enfrentamento da doença e da morte: As diferentes faces de Jesus como recurso terapêutico

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Marcos Tosoli Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Coping With Illness ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Catholic Churches ◽  
Coping With Death

This books presents an analysis of different faces of Christ displayed in Catholic Churches in different continents and countries and the relationship that this face can maintain with the health-disease process and coping with death and dying. It proposes to establish a reflection with people who are in this situation or in providing care to them, whether in the professional or personal and family modalities. It is divided into two parts, the first containing the description and analysis of the iconography of the Jesus faces and the second with proposals for their insertion in the daily life, coping with illness and the reality of death

The End of Christian Europe or the End of Religion?

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-150
Author(s):  
Olivier Roy
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
The Church

This chapter addresses how religion is now widely perceived in Europe as a problem. As discussed, there are three discernible fronts in this battle. First, the hardcore secularists: for them, religion is in itself abominable, but their focus today is on the threat posed by Islam, rather than the Church. Then there are the identitarians, for whom Christianity is bound up with Europe's identity, just as long as it does not interfere with their daily life, lecture them on loving their neighbour, or preach to them about ethics and values. Last, there are, of course, faith communities who believe that their own religion is part of the solution and not the problem. The chapter then highlights Europe's relationship with Islam. It also argues that if Christianity's place in society is shrinking, it is because, in addition to the broad trend of secularization, the urge to limit the role of Islam amounts to reducing the religious sphere in general. At the same time, the desire to promote Christian identity as a means to counter the rise of Islam results in the increased secularization of Christianity.

Daily Life in Maya Civilization

Ethnohistory ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Patricia Urban ◽  
Robert J. Sharer
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Maya Civilization

Cultural Heritage Attrition in Egypt

2020 ◽  
pp. 315-318
Author(s):  
Monica Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Total Loss ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Awareness ◽  
Historical Objects ◽  
Over Time

This chapter is a call to archaeologists and museum curators to reflect upon their roles in the production of knowledge surrounding antiquities and to take more responsibility for historical awareness and appreciation in Egypt. Historical objects transform in significance over time and are in constant re-creation of identity, so we must keep pace with their contemporary relevance, and we should use that relevance to start a discourse on the construction of new identities in relation to cultural memories of the past through the contemporary interpretations of these objects in the daily life of different communities. People cannot appreciate what they do not know; if Egyptians do not have access to the knowledge of their ancient past, they will not understand the value of the significance of its material remains, and will continue to allow, through neglect, the total loss of archaeological sites to looting and commercial urbanization. In the end, this loss will result in a complete attrition of cultural heritage and historical memory that will further lead to a more diluted identity.

Sylvanus Griswold Morley, 1883-1948

1949 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-221
Author(s):  
Ralph L. Roys ◽  
Margaret W. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Data ◽  
Maya Civilization ◽  
Maya People

The death of Sylvanus Griswold Morley on September 2 brought to a close a brilliant career and probably also an important phase of Maya research. His achievements are outstanding in the fields of archaeological exploration and epigraphy; and he had a talent for imparting to others his intense concern for everything pertaining to the Maya people, whether ancient or modern. All was grist that came to his mill, if it had any bearing on this subject; and where there was an application to the hieroglyphs, he ground to exceeding fineness. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that he has done more to spread an intelligent interest in Maya civilization than anyone since Stephens, over a century ago.He was a winning and sympathetic person and made friends in every quarter. He was open-handed to a fault, not only with his material possessions, but also with unpublished scientific data that he had acquired the hard way, even when he knew it would be used to question some cherished thesis of his own.

“Defining Sacred Boundaries”

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Benga
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Sharp Line ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The Third ◽  
Mixed Marriages ◽  
The Bible

AbstractThe present paper examines the criteria by which the Christian communities of Syria demarcated themselves from the pagan society, on the basis of the Didascalia Apostolorum, a „church order” of the third century. The article shows that the theoretical Christian monotheism had countless practical consequences for the daily lives of the early Christians. The ban on idolatry, which had initially led Christianity into isolation, became an important pillar of the new Christian identity. From this perspective, the following areas of delimitation are examined: baptism as a criterion of delimitation from the pagan world; the rejection of pagan literature; the mixed marriages between Christians and pagans; balnea mixta etc. The touchstone of the delimitation criteria is the Bible with its provisions against idolatry and immorality. The boundary between the two antique religions appears in daily life to be an area in which common life was possible, rather than a very sharp line.

Perishable Technologies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Jolie ◽  
Laurie D. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Past Research ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Ritual Practice ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Excellent Preservation

The American Southwest is renowned for its excellent preservation of perishable organic artifacts in dry alcoves and cliff dwellings. This chapter discusses past research on and current trends in the study of perishable artifacts such as textiles, baskets, mats, footwear, and worked wood and hides from Southwest archaeological sites. Following a review of prior research, the chapter details the salient research objectives and outcomes of studies investigating the importance of perishable technologies. Prominent research themes include perishables in daily life, the potential for perishable artifact technological and stylistic variability to inform on social interaction, boundaries, and identities, and the role of perishables in ritual practice.

Enemy Alien

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Andrew T. McDonald ◽  
Verlaine Stoner McDonald
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Black Market ◽  
Pearl Harbor ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Intelligence

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Paul Rusch was detained at a makeshift, minimum-security jail in Tokyo. Sharing quarters with other missionaries and clergy, Rusch acted as chief organizer and camp cook, preparing meals with food scrounged from the black market and gleaned from his loyal network of students. Daily life among internees at Sumire camp was amiable, almost pleasant, until the Americans bombed Tokyo and Yokohama. The Doolittle Raid sparked a fierce debate between pacifists and prowar factions in the camp, foreshadowing the heated controversy that would arise while Rusch was repatriated on the ships Asama Maru and Gripsholm. Missionaries aboard ship were divided into opposing factions who debated the morality of the war. On the journey home, Rusch made connections with American intelligence officers aboard the ships, setting him up for his work in military intelligence during World War II. Despite his loyalty to the Japanese, Rusch cooperated with military intelligence, dedicating himself to winning a war against a militarist government he believed was enslaving a great people. Rusch still trusted his Japanese colleagues in Tokyo, believing they would hold fast to their promise to protect Rikkyo’s Christian identity while safeguarding Seisen-Ryo.

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