Gilmartin, Mary (2004) Geography and Representation: Introduction. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 28 (2). pp. 281-284. ISSN 0309-8265

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Abstract

When I teach introductory undergraduate geography classes, I often assign as additional reading I, Rigoberta Menchu´ (Menchu´ , 1984). The life story of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, as recounted to and by anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, is a moving account of Rigoberta Menchu´ ’s childhood, of the difficulties she and her community had to face, and of their political efforts to bring about change for the indigenous population of Guatemala. In class evaluations, students have responded with enthusiasm to this text—they empathize with the young Rigoberta and her family, and they are helped in this by a narrative that is immediate and emotive. Recent work, though, has questioned the validity of this text. In particular, anthropologist David Stoll claims that important segments of the text are fabricated—he highlights Menchu´ ’s flawed accounts of the deaths of family members, and her refusal to acknowledge the extent of her formal education.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Geography; Representation; Introduction;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
Item ID:	8823
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/0309826042000242503
Depositing User:	Dr. Mary Gilmartin
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2017 12:34
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Geography in Higher Education
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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