Zwischen Archäologie und mündlicher Überlieferung: Die Malerei eines Tz'utujil-Maya als Quelle zum Geschichtsdenken in Santiago Atitlán

Abstract

Santiago Atitlán is an important regional centre of tourism. The town is considered to be a markedly traditional community, but in recent days the autochthonous Tz’utuhil of the area have been subjected to a series of severe social crises. In spite of these developments, traditional knowledge is diligently maintained, and a special form of expressing it is found in local painting. The article interprets two paintings of the young painter Francisco Tiney Pablo within the context of the local culture. La traída de la iglesia is based on an oral tradition: the nawales (ancestors of the Tz’utuhil), one says, made use of their magical powers to build a church in order to satisfy the Spaniards. Mercado maya shows a marketplace scene in which a utopian view of Prehispanic life around Lake Atitlán is drawn by the artist. When the two paintings are compared, two strongly different perspectives of understanding history can be distinguished: the first is clearly based on local culture and tradition, the other tries to take up some new ideas about a pan-Mayan identity.