TY - JOUR AU1 - Jones, Grant D. AB - Tseng 2000.2.11 12:20 5996 Ethnohistory / 47:1 / sheet 260 of 281 Book Reviews the faith that more understanding will eventually come, just as listeners in traditional speech communities must put together pieces of discourse that are not necessarily given in a linear fashion. Even those accustomed to such modes in speech may be uncomfortable with them in a written work, and some readers may be either frustrated or bored. The story could be told in a linear way that is more familiar to Western eyes, but much of its subtleties would be lost. The form of storytelling reflects the primary context of the story being told. Although many recent scholarly efforts in this direction, driven by interests in reflexivity and literary expression, read like the contrived exercises they generally are, this book does not. The authors’ personal experiences in native communities—even though Robin Ridington is best known for his work in a completely different cultural setting— enable them to tell this story in a mode that seems quite ‘‘natural’’ for its expression. The work makes certain demands on the reader but rewards them with a discourse as text that conveys a deeper sense of meaning. The book TI - Maya Conquistador JF - Ethnohistory DO - 10.1215/00141801-47-1-262 DA - 2000-01-01 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/duke-university-press/maya-conquistador-0t6IFF1d0k SP - 262 VL - 47 IS - 1 DP - DeepDyve ER -