LA Zandunga: Of Fieldwork and Friendship in Southern Mexico

by Beverly Newbold Chiñas

One of the best accounts of how to become an anthropologist doing fieldwork! Readers will enjoy this insightful portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls that anthropologist Beverly Chinas experienced while studying women's roles in the culture of the Isthmus Zapotec. The story of her long- term research, told here with honesty and grace, allows the reader to make several trips to the field in different as graduate student gathering dissertation material, as young professional pursuing more sharply defined goals, and as mature researcher directing the work of assistants. The reader encounters Zapotec culture and people through the eyes of the questioning anthropologist-narrator, discovers the methods and techniques of anthropological investigation, and, instructed by the author s commitment to her Zapotec friends, learns how friendships may transcend cultural barriers. Includes eight-page color insert.

178 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Beverly Newbold Chiñas (September 1, 1924 - May 24, 2022) was an American anthropologist and educator.