article
Struggle over meanings: reconstruction of indigenous mythology, cultural identity, and social representation
Ethnohistory • 45 (1) • Published In 1998 • Pages: 31-63
By: Nygren, Anja.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This work is an analysis of a reconstructed mythological tradition as it relates to cultural identity and social representation among the Bribri Indians of Costa Rica during the twentieth century. Nygren describes how the central imagery of Bribri mythology changes its emphasis from the social relationship between different clans in the society to that of the social inequalities between Europeans and Indians. This transformation in the mythological imagery forms an important part of the struggle of the Bribri to deal with the traumatic experiences of domination and to deconstruct the hegemonic version of history and power.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Mythology
- Verbal arts
- Informants
- Texts translated into english
- Spirits and gods
- Ethnosociology
- Cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis
- Cultural identity and pride
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Talamancans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central America
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2012
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1890-1997
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bribri people, southern Costa Rica
- NotesAdditional notes
- Anja Nygren
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-63)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 57043343
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Talamanca Indians