My broken but “Authentic” Artifact from Monte Albán (Joshua Salyers)

Reading Bendix’s book, I am reminded of an experience I had two summers ago in Oaxaca, Mexico that dealt with multiple understandings of authenticity. I had decided to take a guided tour (I generally prefer unguided tours) of the Monte Albán archaeological site with my wife and her younger sister. While touring the site, the tour guide stopped for a moment and allowed several local farmers to attempt to sell our group overpriced reproductions (although they did not disclose this) of “authentic” pre-Columbian artifacts that they had “found” in the fields they worked. My wife’s sister, anxious to obtain a real ancient artifact, asked our tour guide if they were truly authentic. He responded by saying yes and noting that the farmers lived in Oaxaca and “made these themselves.” Bendix’s book reminded me of the disconnect between two people with different understandings of “authentic.” For our guide, the artifacts authenticity derived from the farmers’ “right to forge the cultural artifacts.” For my sister-in-law, hoping to take home something created by ancient indigenous craftsmen, authenticity was defined by her expectations, a point well taken from Bendix’s critique of scholars’ search for authenticity.

Scholars’ searches for authenticity can be misleading. At some point, in order to search for authenticity, a scholar must designate what is and isn’t authentic bringing his or her own values into this designation. Although not a scholar, my sister-in-law approached the value of a cultural item based on an inherent definition of authenticity that different significantly with our tour guide’s.

Now, back to the story. Not wishing to part with her hard earned money (she was only sixteen at the time), my sister-in-law declined to buy the small statue. My wife, feeling bad for her sister wasting the man’s time, bought the statue from him instead. However, this story does not have a happy ending. As I picked up the reminder of this story today, my clumsy fingers dropped it and it shattered. (I only hope super glue will work).