Research Catalog

Title

Miniature crafts and their makers : palm weaving in a Mexican town / Katrin S. Flechsig.

Author

Flechsig, Katrin.

Publication

Tucson : University of Arizona Press, c2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xv, 208 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), 2 maps; 25 cm.

Summary

• "Flechsig places the crafts of Chigmecatitlan within the contexts of manufacturing, local history, religion, design and technique, and selling. She tells how innovation is introduced into the craft, such as through the modification of foreign designs in response to market demands. She also offers insights into capitalist penetration of folk traditions, the marketing of folk arts, and economic changes in modern Mexico."--Jacket.
• "In this book, Katrin Flechsig offers the first in-depth ethnographic and historical examination of the miniature palm craft industry, taking readers behind the scenes of craft production in order to explain how and why this folk art has undergone miniaturization over the past several decades. In describing this "Lilliputization of Mexico," she discusses the appeal of miniaturization, revealing how such factors as tourism and the construction of national identity have contributed to an ongoing demand for the tiny creations. She also contrasts the playfulness of the crafts with the often harsh economic and political realities of life in the community."

Subject

• Chigmecatitlán (Mexico) > Economic conditions
• Chigmecatitlán (Mexico) > Social conditions
• Miniature craft > Chigmecatitlán
• Mixtec Indians > Chigmecatitlán > Industries
• Mixtec Indians > Chigmecatitlán > Rites and ceremonies
• Mixtec Indians > Industries > Chigmecatitlán
• Mixtec baskets > Chigmecatitlán
• Palm frond weaving > Chigmecatitlán

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-202) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The lilliputization of Mexico -- Chigmecatitlán from a distance -- Palm weaving as a microindustry -- Brittle memories : a history of weaving palm -- Shrinking crafts -- The priest : ritual contexts of the miniature -- Learning and forgetting : the art of weaving palm -- Petty commodities : selling the miniature -- Private town, public longing -- Imagining the future of a Mexican craft.

ISBN

0816524009 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

2004010393^^

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library