Tejido y vida cotidiana: “el cuerpo manda”. Discurso sobre trabajo y corporeidad entre las artesanas expertas de San Juan Chamula

Abstract

The article discusses the result of five ethnographic cases regarding an equal number of artisans from San Juan Chamula. The women related how, while learning to weave, their bodies and wills combined to allow them to become skilled in the art of weaving woolen garments for ceremonial use, even as they performed household chores and field work. From the women’s testimonials we were able to verify the existence of a close relationship with a local pedagogical ethno-theory developed by Margarita Martinez, which involves the areas of family interaction and corporeity. Biographical stories and family recollections describe the cultural value that this type of exclusive production has for the local population of the Highlands of Chiapas.