Author Description
This interpretive guide combines history and ethnography to represent living traditions at the adobe and stone churches of New Mexico. Each chapter treats a particular church or group of churches and includes photographs, practical information for visitors, and context pertinent to current understanding. Frank Graziano provides unprecedented coverage of the churches by combining his extensive fieldwork with research in archives and previous scholarship. The book is written in an engaging narrative prose that brings the reader inside of congregations in Indian and Hispanic villages. The focus is less on church buildings than on people in relation to churches -- parishioners, caretakers, priests, restorers -- and on the author's experiences researching among them.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the intersection of architectural history and living religious tradition within the historic adobe and stone churches of New Mexico. Frank Graziano, an experienced researcher in cultural studies, utilizes a combination of extensive ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and previous scholarship to document these sites. The primary argument posits that the significance of these structures is defined less by their physical construction and more by the ongoing relationships maintained by parishioners, caretakers, and clergy.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Detailed profiles of specific churches and regional church clusters across New Mexico
- Ethnographic accounts of contemporary congregational life in Indian and Hispanic villages
- Practical visitor information and photographic documentation for each site
Scope Limits
- The text does not function as a comprehensive architectural manual or structural engineering guide
- It does not provide an exhaustive historical timeline for every minor parish in the state
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts and readers frequently note that the book succeeds in bridging the gap between academic research and accessible travel narrative. The prose is recognized for its ability to humanize historical sites by centering the lived experiences of the people who maintain them.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2019-05-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190663480
ISBN-13:
9780190663483
History
Religion
Architecture
Church History
Ethnography
Travel Guide
New Mexico