Reifler Victoria (1989). El Cristo indígena, el rey nativo: el sustrato histórico de la mitología del ritual de los mayas. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Abstract

The work of Victoria Reifler, El Cristo indígena, el rey nativo (whose first edition in English dates from 1981), tries to solve, in his own words, an unresolved question in his previous text: Ritual Humor in the Highlands of Chiapas. The question the author asks is: What does the complicated Mayan festivals in the Highlands of Chiapas and elsewhere mean to the indigenous community, apart from entertainment? Reifler claims to have discovered that many elements of Mayan mythology and ritual, apparently Aboriginal, actually have a historical or post-conquest origin. Therefore, it is possible to determine precisely when, and most importantly, why they became part of mythology and ritual (p.9).