Kolektivní monografie "Identity, Tradition and Revitalization of American Indian Culture" je věnována aktuální problematice revitalizace tradiční kultury a umění amerických indiánů. Zvláštní pozornost je zaměřena na pojetí nativní identity a otázce, jakým způsobem mohou původní obyvatelé Ameriky svobodně rozvíjet tradiční kulturu v moderní a stále více globalizované společnosti. Mezi hlavní témata knihy patří analýza vlivu moderní a postmoderní civilizace na indiánské kultury a postižení procesů a mechanismů, jimiž se v současnosti kulturní dědictví a etnická identita amerických indiánů uchovává anebo naopak ztrácí. Jednotlivé studie, které charakterizuje tematická pestrost a pluralita výzkumných perspektiv, usilují přispět k širší diskusi na aktuální téma tradice, modernita, etnicita a kulturní identita v perspektivě antropologie moderních světů.
As the title "Identity, Tradition, and Revitalization of American Indian Cultures” suggests, this work analyzes the construction of indigenous identities, both pre-contract and post-contact, and how indigenous cultures and peoples attempt to reimagine their complex identities during this so-called era of self-determination. Problematically, identity is both a personal and cultural construct. How much cultural identity is shaped by reactions to and against outside cultural forces? What aspects of cultural identity are bound to traditional practices? These tricky, and ultimately, unanswerable questions are probed throughout this issue. The breadth contained therein such diverse topics as early Mayan civilization to contemporary indigenous language immersion programs. One standout essay, Radoslav Hlúšek’s "Being Indian in Mexico: Problems of Identity in Nahua villages of Hueyapan and Santa Clara Huitziltepec” details identity association through two seemingly identical towns. Another standout essay, Marek Halbich’s "Tourism, Marginalization and Commercialization of Art in a small Indigenous Village in the Peruvian Andes,” reveals how broad national socio-economic concerns can affect the identity construction of a small village. Although an informative and interesting read, a diverse work such as this can only briefly touch upon the broad historical strokes responsible for colonization of the Americas. Notably, the book lacks more than a gesture toward current indigenous theories. There was no attempt to examine the concepts of identity and tradition as themselves westernized constructs. Despite the lack of indigenous theoretical perspectives, however, this collection is a well-rounded introduction to the indigenous Americas and the complex attendant issues of identity and tradition.
Danica Miller
