Gossip as Competition

8/13/2019 Gossip as Competition

1/6


2/6

~ ~ i p a ompelil ioll III Zi wcanl n

group of Zlnacanteco men including som ciyll officials) discusses a public eyentconstan tly scrutinizing one another ' 5 dealings in the next Reid, up the mountainside, just wi thin earshot at the stanup ipe or the mil , or staring unabashedlyin front of the town hall. Yet in spite of this proximity, p hysica l and social,Zinacantecos have a morb id sense of pr iv acy . While being fascinated withevents across the fence, th e y strive to k cp other pry ing eyes and ears away fromthe ir own affairs .

Zinacantecos li ve in 1I0usehoids that st'em to perce ive themse lves as competing llot in solidarity with o ther ndiam and peasants against a ll economicand political system cont rolled by non-I ndia ns, but against one another - foraccess to land , tl la bor, to social ascendancy . In the midst of a vi ll age wbereeveryone Ii les on top of everyone el e, there is great maneuvering for selfprote otio n and isolation . Tht, corollary is intense curiosity abo ut oth er people.

Gossip is a powerful and dangerous weapon with ill the larger set of behaviors that li mit in tim acy and promote evasion. Bad words are like physical blows:th ey violate pC'( sonal space and the ir heatcd cxchange leads to colder Gutba rder legal and social rep ercussions- tearing apa rt kin, frien ds, and n igh bo rs .Zinaca ntecos en joy gossiping abou t disclos ures and slips in ot he r pe ople' s Ji vehu t they gu ard themselves carefu ll y both aga ins t gossip turned against the m,and against the charge of spreading gossip.

The bound of (;on Rden liality genera lly coincide with household boundaries.Neigh bors, even brothers, wi th contiguous houses and local co rnfields. mayfarm toge the r, rent lowland com elds or hire tr ucks in commo n, but will not

187


3/6


4/6

Cl)sip Competit io n in Zill uC WI/r/tl

em ploY 5 a q uotat ivl' partick , II wh ic h fl ags a scntl' ncp as hearsay:i laj la [ he got ,ick, or so I hea r ] But caution is ofte n n ot elloug h. [ was

prese/lt at a cou rt case involving alleged ~ l a n d e r hy a ma n agains t his son-inla\\ The son- in-law had been accused of having prompted civi l authorities tobuild a ro ad across his fnlhcr-in-Ia\\ s propPrty. Th e so n-in- law thought hi sb the r-ill -Iaw had startcd the storY- \lhich he ma intained was a fab rica hon and soug ht an a p o l o ) : ~ ; ino a reconciliation . The fa ther-in-law tried variousd efenses No . I didn ' t aCCI1se my son- in- law . We ll, perhaps I rcpt'a tcd

harge, but someo nE told 111(, . WI"II , maybe no one else told me, butc ('[vone agn' cd when I slIggcs tl'd it and so on. W hat shou ld haw be(' n adispute a bout th respon sib ility for damage to thi s ma n' s propert y was th llstra llsfo rnwd in to a dispu te abo ut who ~ p r e a d fal e or un ubstant iated rumorsavout that responsibility. The fa the r-in- law ultimately had t o pay a nne for hisIlnrestrai ned tonglle ; an d he \\'as too ashamed to press the fo r reco veringtbm agps for his lost p roperty .

Zil cantecos hare a deep ambivalence ahoutg o s ~ i p their eX(lggerated sense of pritacy c a r r i e ~

with it a fascinatioll It itl, alld a curiosityabout others private affairs.

Gossip is part of a syndrome of behav iors tha t at once isolate Zi ll aeant ecohousehold from one another an d- in seemi ng contradiction- en co urage m u-t ll al spying hetween househo lds . Common verbal etiq ue tte ill Zlnac antan isevasive and bana l Wh ere are you going? .. For a walk . But deliberatelyun infor mative replies do not necessarily stop the How of mo re and more pOintedqu estions. For a walk, eh ') Wh om are YO ll plann ing to visit ?

j\.lorc than th is, where words fa il, spie ' are often em ployed to ferre t ou t ot herpe oples ' Si t ti ng in our house com po und yard, we were cons tan t ly awareof the com ings a mI goi ngs of our neighbors, of co mmo tion in the ceIlter, oftrucks on the road . ;""l e miJers of the h o u ~ e l listE'lleJ and watched, iden tify i ngpe ople aIlJ spI c,tialing about t il ir precis erra ds . Any untowa rd d is t ur ba ncewas eXCUSf> en oug h to dispatc h a yo un g boy a soc ial non-person- to ge t a firsthand view of fre:.h scanda l.

On the othe r ha nd , elaborate precau t iolls we re taken to p lu) : informationleaks from with in the co mpound . Membe rs of the fa mily took ca re to avo iden co un te rs which wou ld lead to drin king or unguard ed conve rsation . My wifeand 1 as particularly clumsy members of the household, were often coa chedexp li citly a hout what to say an d what not to say with ou ts iders . A d runken sonwo uld bc careful ly escorted home lest his conduct provoke unfavo ra ble commen t. Conversation ceaseJ ent Irely in painfull y pu blic situati ons at th e cornm il l, at the week ly market , before visitors, or on th e buses .

Withi n th is pllttern of espionage an d co unterespio nage gossip cu ts bothways . Gossip is a potent tool of the spy but a fearful th rea t to the counterspy.T ru th may hur t , bllt Zinacan t('co ta lk g g e s t th at go ss ip, true or not, can hurtmo re. Su da nge ro us do Zin ucantecos re ckon un fa vorable goss ip tl lat the y will on

189


5/6

Journal o Commll llication, Winte r 977

occasion break norm al rules of confidentiality to head off some particula rlydamag ing tidbi t. I iere is th e ploy, fam i liar to a ll of us, of admittillg freely to atra nsgression, les t the offended party hear about it indi r elly.) One particu la rlyrocky co urtsh ip in our village was cha rac te rized by we ll-timed disclosures, onthe part of the groom-t -be, about h is past affa irs.

"When they were ghting about his misbehavior, he said at the townhall :' We ll, I to ld the m open ly th at I had ta lked to this other wom an Maria ; 1 toldthem that I had given inject ions.' H a ha h a."

.. He spo ke right out? He confessed?"

.. Y('5 . The father-i n-law cou lcln ' t complain. . Yes. I have heard abo ut that .I do n 't cl aim 1 ha ven ' t hpard about it. 1 am not angry about tha t,' sai d t hefathe r-in-law . He had b n to ld p lainl J abo ut th is affair with Maria ."

I t was fortunate tha t he had told them open ly from the firsl. rf on laft 'rwards the, had hea rd abou t the affair, th en th ey would have been angryan d up set. Someone else migh t ha ve told th m. T hat is wh y he to ld themdir ec tly- so his pa ren ts-in-law could not criticize h im or become an gry withhim.Blu nted truth may he rende red innocuous, bu t the bes t strategy in

Zinaca ll tan see ms to be to crec t a wa ll around on se lf, to keep one' s businesstotally pr iva te . com mo n theme tn go sip abo ut shady dealings and intrigue inth e woods is the (obviously futile) at t mp by pro tagon ists to protect theme ves fro m th e gossip' s tongue . I n one acc ou nt, a ma n a rranges to ta ke over

anothe r man' s obliga tio ns to per form ritu al service . lie takes pains to insure thatthe matter is kep t quie t.

Th is is what I told him: Allrigh t, [' see how deeply 1 mu st go into febt totake this office. But I do n' t want you to star t compla ining ab out it later. Ihea r that you have been ridicu li ng me, saying thi ngs like : .Boy, he is jus tpre ten d ing to be a man ; he is just p re tending to have the mo ney to do ri tua lservice . He stole my ofRce, he took it from me. '

.. If you say such things, please ex cuse me, bu t I' ll drag you to jail. I' llco me looking for YO ll m yse lf. I don' t wa nt you to te ll sto ries abo ut me ,becau se you ha ve freely givpll me your ritua l offi ce. If there is n o dispute ,then 1 too will beha e the sa me way. I won ' t gossip ab ou t you . I wo n'trid icu le you. I won ' t say, for exam ple , . H ah, I am rep lac ing h im; he has nosham e , acting like a man , asking for re ligious office wh en he has no mo ney .'I won ' t tal k like that He wa n ted to ('rve Our Lord, but he ran away. I hadto take ove r for him.' I won' t sa y things like that , if we ag ree to kee p sit ntabout it.Zinacantecos have a cl ea r th eo ry of gossip . Th e theory involves the

sepa ratio n b tween in formati on in the publ ic domain and p rivate information ,and the abil ity of gossip to pu ll bits from th e pri vate in to the pu blic real m . Andthe theory reflec ts a de ep ambiva lence about th e ethics of telli ng tales.

19


6/6

r . o ~ p n. Cumpl l i l io ll ill Zi.JaCfm / 1ll

The n ' 3 S O I l ~ fo r Zinaeantecos deep sense of privacy go deeply into the o c i a laud political con tmints on village li ff' , and t he resulting cultural traditions.Among linacanlcco, with many other peasants, b t n r ~ has taken the hostil ity ant. mistrust that might legitimately be directed agains t controll ing ande.l(ploitative outsiders , and has turned it inwards : ~ { ' t t i l l g vi llager a) ;aimt villager, d e ~ p i t e their u l l d e r l y i n ~ communality of illterests. In Zinacantan gossip isItot me rd " . ocial c(lntrol -l'nfor go'>sip ofteJl backfires or goes too far, Zinacantecos like nl lly of l en j oy out worry about g()ssip.

Zinacanteco women sort beans in their house yard

J9I

Documents

Gossip as Competition