I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

Front Cover
Her story reflects the experiences common to many Indian communities in Latin America today. Rigoberta suffered gross injustice and hardship in her early life: her brother, father and mother were murdered by the Guatemalan military. She learned Spanish and turned to catechist work as an expression of political revolt as well as religious commitment. The anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, herself a Latin American woman, conducted a series of interviews with Rigoberta Menchu. The result is a book unique in contemporary literature which records the detail of everyday Indian life. Rigoberta’s gift for striking expression vividly conveys both the religious and superstitious beliefs of her community and her personal response to feminist and socialist ideas. Above all, these pages are illuminated by the enduring courage and passionate sense of justice of an extraordinary woman.

From inside the book

Contents

Chapter 1
1
Chapter III
18
Chapter VI
33
Chapter IX
50
Chapter XII
79
Chapter XIII
87
Chapter XV
102
Chapter XVI
117
Chapter XX
150
Chapter XXIII
163
Chapter XXV
183
Chapter XXVIII
201
Chapter XXXI
220
Chapter XXXIII
236
Bibliography 252
Copyright

Chapter XVIII
131

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1984)

Rigoberta Menchú received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her efforts to end the oppression of indigenous peoples in Guatemala.

Bibliographic information