In the Shadow of Tlaloc: Life in a Mexican Village by Gregory G. Reck

by Gregory G. Reck

The remote Mexican village of Jonotla lies in the shadow of the rock of Tlaloc, named for the ancient god of rain whose spirit has dwelt among its inhabitants for centuries. In the mid-1960s the twentieth century finally came to the fifteen hundred villagers of Jonotla--in the form of roads, cars, buses, electricity, and a more competitive form of life. In this moving account Reck sets out to document what effect these changes have had on the villagers. This study is part of the universal drama that is inevitably played out wherever and whenever the past and the future meet in sudden conflict.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published May 25, 1978

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

riding two horses is a tough job

Well, let me start by saying that I don’t know Prof. Reck, but I think I would like him if I did. I really appreciated the words he wrote at the end of this book on a Mexican village in the mountains of Puebla state. Among other good remarks, he said, “Standardized, replicable methods are viewed as necessary in order to create a barrier between the emotions and feelings of the researcher and the social world he is trying to understand.” (p.221) For me, that is one of the great problems of anthropology, but it is one that will never be, can never be satisfactorily solved. Everyone will cope with it in their own way.

This book is beautifully written, with a lot of empathy for the people of the small village of Jonotla. We follow some episodes in the lives of three main “characters” and learn of changes that came to the village back in the 1970s when the author lived there. If we think anthropologically, the book does cover a lot to do with religion, economy, and family life, history and modernity as well. You get an excellent feeling for daily life—better than in the majority of such anthropological village studies—male rivalries, drinking in little bars, walking to distant milpas through the forest, the bus rides to a nearby larger town, government “interference” in local matters, and a fiesta for a new water system that doesn’t work. It was very hard to make a living for most people. Education served to bring discontent with village life—a common problem in most of the world. The new road brings new people and commodities, but it also helps people to leave to follow their hopes for a better life in a town or city.

But I found a problem, though I repeat that I liked the book. Is this a novel or is it a work of anthropology? Reck wanted to think about the dreams, hopes, and feelings of the inhabitants of Jonotla; he created them willy-nilly and they read well. But are they the actual ones? Did he not create feelings out of his imagination? Such a tack is all well and good in fiction, but does he have the right to do this and call it “anthropology”? If you look at such books as “Akenfield” by Ronald Blythe, “Women of Deh Koh”, by Erika Friedl, or “Village in the Vaucluse” by Lawrence Wylie, you can find similar empathy and beautiful writing, but they did not assume the power of assigning thoughts, words, or feelings to the village people they worked with. Back in 1978, “cultural appropriation” was not much heard of, if at all, but I’m afraid that is what we are dealing with here. I’m not much for political correctness, especially the ‘woke’ version, but this book definitely tries to ride two horses named Anthropology and Fiction. Too late now, by far, but I would have tried to bring empathy and emotion in another way in which the real voices of the village people were the only ones, and the author merely stated his own views. Or, I would have written a novel.

(In my case, the latter never could have appeared!!)

[William Riedlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A colorful ethnographic piece that describes life in a rural Mexican village in the 70's. If I remember correctly, the narrative is roughly based on the places, people, and cultural observations from Dr. Reck's time in his field site. It was very entertaining to read, and painted a detailed picture of how Reck interpreted the topics of Mestiso, Masculinity, Modernity, and the paths that people must take in times rapidly changing. I was also glad to see that in the beginning of the book, Reck states he is not writing as an authority, only as an outsider who has spent time in a place similar to the one written. Highly recommend! It's pretty quick!