Pref/face. Little Did I Know xiii

AcKNOWLEDGEmeants xxxiii

Chapter One. Under the Sign of the Virgen de Transito 1

Intertext One. Those who Are Transformed 31

Chapter Two. The Postwar Milieu: Means, Ends, and Identi-ties 39

Intertext Two. Co-memoration and Co-laboration: Screening and Screaming 73

Chapter Three. Horror's Special Effects 86

Intertext Three. Confidence Games 115

Chapter Four. Indian Giver or Nobel Savage?: Rigoberta Menchu Tum's Stoll/en Past 126

Intertext Four. Welcome to Bamboozled! A Modern-Day Minstrel Show 156

Chapter Five. Anthropologist Discovers Legendary Two-Faced Indian 165

Intertext Five. Look Out! Step Right Up! Paranoia and Other Entertainmeants 197

Chapter Six. Hidden Powers, Duplicitous State/s 208

Intertext Six. Counterscience in Colonial Laboratories 242

Chapter Seven. Life during Wartime 252

Intertext Seven. How Do You Get Someone to Give You Her Purse? 280

Chapter Eight. Accounting for the Postwar, Balancing the Book/s 290

Chapter Nine. The Ends 322

Notes 327

Works Cited 361

Index 387

“. . . [T]his is both an interesting reflection on the dilemmas of contemporary society and our place in it and an essential exploration of the endless
complications of Guatemala.” — Jim Handy, Hispanic American Historical Review

“Reckoning . . . is hauntingly beautiful, raising provocative questions, analytic complexities, and fascinating interconnections. It convincingly captures what it means to question assumptions, to challenge what we
know, as it shows us some of the myriad ways that Guatemalans make sense of violence, loss, and the future.” — Jennifer Burrell, Political and Legal Anthropological Review

“. . .Nelson has given us a challenging, rich, creative text, remarkable for the ends, and beginnings, that it generates.” — Emily Yates-Doerr, e-misférica

“[A] lively, compassionate, provocative exploration of experience in postwar Guatemala. Reckoning makes an important contribution to understanding
contemporary Guatemala and provides deep insights into the human political/social psychological condition.” — Norman B. Schwartz, Current Anthropology

“[A] unique, powerful vision of Guatemala today. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” — C. Hendrickson, Choice

“[Nelson’s] elaborate account provides detailed information on important persons, events, and diverse social units, including Maya communities, NGOs, political parties and organizations, the Guatemalan state, the United States and other foreign powers. Her account of salient events that occured during this period reveal her profound and detailed knowledge of recent history in Guatemala, and this alone makes the book invaluable for anyone interested in recent developments in that effervescent country.” — Robert M. Carmack, The Americas

“. . . [T]his is both an interesting reflection on the dilemmas of contemporary society and our place in it and an essential exploration of the endless
complications of Guatemala.” —Jim Handy, Hispanic American Historical Review

“Reckoning . . . is hauntingly beautiful, raising provocative questions, analytic complexities, and fascinating interconnections. It convincingly captures what it means to question assumptions, to challenge what we
know, as it shows us some of the myriad ways that Guatemalans make sense of violence, loss, and the future.” —Jennifer Burrell, Political and Legal Anthropological Review

“. . .Nelson has given us a challenging, rich, creative text, remarkable for the ends, and beginnings, that it generates.” —Emily Yates-Doerr, e-misférica

“[A] lively, compassionate, provocative exploration of experience in postwar Guatemala. Reckoning makes an important contribution to understanding
contemporary Guatemala and provides deep insights into the human political/social psychological condition.” —Norman B. Schwartz, Current Anthropology

“[A] unique, powerful vision of Guatemala today. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” —C. Hendrickson, Choice

“[Nelson’s] elaborate account provides detailed information on important persons, events, and diverse social units, including Maya communities, NGOs, political parties and organizations, the Guatemalan state, the United States and other foreign powers. Her account of salient events that occured during this period reveal her profound and detailed knowledge of recent history in Guatemala, and this alone makes the book invaluable for anyone interested in recent developments in that effervescent country.” —Robert M. Carmack, The Americas

“The struggle to understand violence is a consuming task for many around the globe. Diane M. Nelson articulates stunning insights into the problem of understanding the violence in Guatemala and, by extension, our whole world of war and structural harm.” — Catherine A. Lutz, editor of, The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle against U.S. Military Posts

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