文献出处：Laurie Kroshus. "Commoditizing culture: Tourism and Maya identity." Annals of tourism research 30.2 (2003): 353-368.

原文

Commoditizing culture: Tourism and Maya Identity

Laurie Medina

Abstract

This ethnographic study examined how the commoditization of culture for tourism affected traditional practices in a formerly Maya village adjacent to the most-visited Mayan ruins in Belize. Though the majority of villagers had abandoned this indigenous identity, they responded to the tourism demand for representations of an essentialized Mayan culture by utilizing new channels to access traditions they could no longer learn through old ways: they turned to the publications of archaeologists and epigraphers who study the ancient Maya. As villagers developed expertise in the cultural traditions of their ancestors, they remained ambivalent about whether or not their unconventional acquisition of this knowledge provided sufficient basis for reclaiming Maya identities.

Keywords: culture; commoditization; identity; Maya; Belize

INTRODUCTION

One school of thought in tourism studies has argued that the commoditization of culture for consumption renders the resulting practices inauthentic. This position distinguishes between traditions which persist in relative isolation from market forces, and practices elaborated specifically for the tourism market. Against this perspective, other scholars have asserted that such transactions between tourists and “tourees” generate new cultural configurations which are both meaningful and authentic to their participants. Advocates of this argument reject both the distinction drawn by the first group of scholars between more and less authentic cultural forms and the notions of culture and authenticity on which that distinction rests. The second school of thought instead portrays culture as dynamic and emergent. This paper introduces a third alternative in this debate: the commoditization of culture for tourism may involve the utilization of new channels to access cultural traditions of great antiquity. Posing this possibility for a formerly Maya village in western Belize, this paper engages two sets of debates in the social sciences: it explores how the debate in tourism studies sketched above intersects with contemporary ones in the field of Maya studies, where “constructivists” cast Maya culture as a (relatively recent) social construction, while “essentialists” define it in terms of continuities that have persisted across centuries from pre-colonial times into the present.

Early studies suggested that touristic commoditization—the offering of cultural products and practices for money—results in the emergence of a culture distinct from the traditional practice of “tourees” and less authentic by virtue of being both “staged” and a commodity. MacCannell (1976) suggests that tourists are largely motivated by a “quest for authenticity,” which is fundamentally a search for cultural difference. Tourists interpret such difference as an indicator of less contamination by contemporary capitalism and thus greater authenticity in relations among people and between people and nature. However, MacCannell asserts that tourees—the host population confronted with the arrival of tourists in their midst—protect and insulate their culture by dividing their lives into “backstage” areas, where they continue meaningful traditions away from the gaze of tourists, and “frontstage” areas, where they perform a limited range of activities for a tourist audience. This makes available portions of host culture for guest consumption, while it protects other parts from commoditization. Such an argument assumes that touristic cultural performance, which MacCannell calls “staged authenticity,” is less authentic than practices not performed for tourists or for cash. Greenwood (1977) also engages this assumption by asserting that commoditization changes the meaning of cultural products and practices to such a degree that they eventually become meaningless for their producers. The conclusion drawn is that the “staged authenticity” of commoditized culture is not authentic at all. Ryan (1996), focusing away from concerns with authenticity, suggests that a “tourist culture” distinct from the everyday cultures of either tourists or tourees emerges from their inter- (or trans-) actions; however, he builds on the same assumption that tourism leads to the emergence of a culture different from the original one of the tourees.

TOURISM, CULTURE AND IDENTITY

If there were such a thing as a “typical Maya village”’ San Jose Succotz would certainly not be it. A village of some 1,400 people in western Belize, Succotz is linked to “Mayaness” in two ways: through proximity to the ruins of an ancient Maya city that has become a popular tourism attraction; and through the ancestry, culture, and identities of its contemporary residents. If the former connection provides an important source of income for the village, the latter connection is characterized by ambivalence and ambiguity.

This article is based on ethnographic research undertaken in Succotz during the summer of 1999, combined with archival sources. The ethnographic research included a survey of 25% of the household, in which an adult member of every fourth unit was surveyed, working up and down both sides of each street in the village. This resulted in a total of 73 surveys, which elicited information about household size and composition, languages spoken in the household, their ethnic affiliations, factors considered by respondents in determining their ethnic identifications, and languages spoken by adult household members’parents. In addition, information about sources of household income was elicited.

This survey was complemented by longer, semi-structured interviews with 15 Succotzeños employed in tourism. This sample, developed by asking villagers to name individuals or families working in tourism, included most tour guides (6), all pottery-making households (5), slate carving households (2), and owners of tourist accommodations (2). These interviews explored each individual’s history in tourism work, the development of the knowledge required for that work, their assessments of “what tourists want”, their ethnic self-identifications, and connections between those identities and their work in tourism.

Ambiguous Identities in Succotz

Succotz is located just across the Mopan River from Xunantunich, the ruins of an ancient Mayan city that is now Belize’s most-visited archaeological site. Both Succotz and Xunantunich are adjacent to the Western Highway, making them readily accessible to tourism. During the year this research was conducted, 27,614 tourists visited Xunantunich. However, because Xunantunich is primarily a ‘day trip’ for tourists staying at resorts throughout Belize or for cruiseship passengers, few tourists stayed in the village. Of households surveyed in Succotz, 12% reported earning income from tourism.

Beyond its proximity to the ruins, Succotz has a Mayan past of its own: during the 19th and into the 20thcentury, the village was described as an “Indian” community populated by Mopan and Yucatec Maya with origins in the Guatemalan Peten and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The earliest ethnographic research on Succotz reported that primicias (traditional Maya rituals), formed an integral part of the community’s agricultural cycle ( Thompson 1930:114). These rituals reflected the core cosmological principles identified by essentialist scholars that link people, nature, ancestors, and sacred forces. However, in contemporary Succotz, only 20% of the survey sample had land for agriculture, and wage labor has become the dominant economic activity. Village residents have been integrated into regional and national economies, commuting to locations where work is more readily available. Since Succotzeños are known for their skill in construction work, 31% of the households surveyed had members working in that field. The relative decline of agricultural production in Succotz has led to a consequent reduction in the practice of rituals associated with traditional agricultural cycles.

Tourism and Maya Culture in Succotz

However, tourism may present new possibilities for Succotzeños to claim or reclaim Maya identity and culture. Tourists visit to Succotz specifically to experience Xunantunich. As Castañeda (1996) suggests, the publications of Mayanist archaeologists (together with the publications of tourism promoters) have generated interest in the ancient Maya among North Americans and Europeans. Archaeologists’ work at Xunantunich has made this site available for tourism; simultaneously, archaeologists’ enthusiasm for Mayan culture has generated increased respect for the knowledge of the ancient Maya on the part of some Succotzeños, especially those employed in excavations.Tourism to Xunantunich has had a broader effect on local ethnic hierarchies: as tourists demonstrate interest in ancient Maya culture by generating demand for goods that reflect that culture, positive value attaches to the “Maya” label. Villagers are very cognizant of this fact; they often mentioned the tremendous appreciation that tourists demonstrate for “things Mayan”. For example, one tour guide explained that she used both English and Mayan languages in her tour: “I share what I can in Mayan, because what the tourists are looking for is the genius of the Maya” (author’s translation). Another guide recalled having little interest in Maya culture when he began a job as a guide at a nearby resort. When tourists in his charge wanted to visit Xunantunich, he had hired someone else to guide them through the ruins. However, little by little he began to appreciate how tourists valued Mayan culture, and thus he also became interested. When the opportunity arose, he enrolled in a three-day class taught by an archaeologist who was excavating at Xunantunich. He also began reading books on ancient Maya culture and cosmology, either purchased or received as gifts from tourists or archaeologists. Since tourists demonstrate little interest in Mestizo identities and culture, they thus invert the local hierarchy that values Mestizo over Maya (though the “inversion” involves the “othering” of Mayas in a way that in some respects simultaneously preserves that hierarchy).

译文

文化的商品化: 玛雅的文化旅游

劳丽·麦地那

摘要

民族学研究探讨了旅游文化的商品化是如何影响玛雅的古村落的游客访问量，该村落毗邻伯利兹最大的玛雅遗址。虽然当地的大部分的村民已经放弃了这个土著身份，但是他们这一地区旅游项目的开发表示了自己的想法，即通过旅游开发，让传统的古老玛雅文化有一个新的渠道，可以被外界所了解，通过游客宣传这一地区的玛雅文化，并且也为村民自己提供了一个学习自己民族古文化的途径。现在，他们通过专家学者们的出版物来研究古代玛雅。随着村民们对他们祖先的传统文化的掌握，不断增加了其专业知识。

关键词:文化；商品化；身份；玛雅；伯利兹城

引言

一个学术理论认为，文化的商品化消费呈现的实践结果是不真实的。这一见解，将坚持文化和市场经济相对隔离的传统观点和坚持文化与旅游市场是密切联系的这两种观点区分开来。与这一视角不同的是，其他学者宣称，这种游客与景区商户之间的交易以及商品中蕴含的文化对参与者来说都是有意义的并且是真实的。本文阐述了与这两种观点不同的第三种见解：即通过旅游文化的商品化，有可能会为人们提供一个新的渠道来认识到非常古老的传统玛雅文化。源于伯利兹西部的古村落曾经是玛雅村落的这种可能性，本文涉及到社会科学方面的两种观点:探索如何将传统玛雅文化的旅游开发与现代的玛雅研究结合起来，而“实用主义学科”则定义了它的连续性，坚持从殖民时代到现在的跨世纪研究。

早期的研究表明，旅游文化产品的商品化在很早之前就已经有了，比如以前所说的“图雷”等商品。麦肯奈尔(1976)的研究表明，游客在很大程度上是出于“追求真实性,”从根本上寻找不同的文化差异。游客将之解释为这种差异在于，古村落的这种旅游文化，是目前受当代资本主义影响比较少的，最大化地保留了其真实性和纯朴性，从而更真实性都反映了人与人之间和人与自然之间的关系，这就是游客们所追求的。这种观点认为，旅游文化的外在性表现, 麦肯奈尔认为，其真实性不是通过游客和商品交易表现出来的。格林伍德(1977)也赞同这一假设，声称商品化改变了文化产品的意义，他们最终成为毫无意义的生产者。结论是文化产品的商品化导致难以真实地呈现出当地的文化。