Biography of a Mexican Crucifix

Reviews / Votes

Hughes deftly constructs a convincing and innovative religious history of Mexico told from the perspective of the devotional life of the townspeople...The book is especially great when discussing the aesthetics and emotions associated with Mexican Catholic devotion; indeed, the book significantly contributes to our understanding of Mexican lived religion. Moreover, Hughes' considerable fieldwork adds to her insight and sensitivity into her subjects' experiences. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in material religion as well as religion in Latin America. * Religious Studies Review * This history of the five-hundred-year odyssey of a Mexican crucifix and its devotees is both scholarly and deeply respectful of local belief. Overcoming the apparent dichotomy between indigenous and Christian practices, Hughes's work shows how this and other Mexican crucifixes are profoundly part of both at the same time. This is an engaged study that allows us analytical distance and yet draws us in to grapple with the meaning it holds for religious life. * Rosemary Radford Ruether, Professor of Theology, Claremont Graduate University * Jennifer Scheper Hughes shows extraordinary interpretive skill in turning this 'biography of an object,' the Cristo Aparecido of Totolapan, into a scholarly revelation of complex religious devotion in Mexico. Combining the sharpness of a detective story with a new kind of historical writing, humanity and agency are given to all the participants - Spanish priests, indigenous parishioners and historians too! Readers are led to 'draw nearer' to a richer and deeper understanding of how the 'Christ Appeared' stays alive over centuries, through rivalry and violence, tenderness and affection, in the souls of indigenous Mexico. This book is first rate and compelling, humane and scholarly, respectful and insistent, innovative and grounded in the best historical writing of the last decades. * David Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America, Harvard University * This book can help us honor, welcome, and be blessed by their remarkable spiritual culture. * Don H. Compier, Graceland University * Throughout Hughes proposes a new aesthetic and affective approach to the study of religion....recommended. * CHOICE *