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Thesis advisor: Stephen J. Pope / Transitional justice responds to injustices and violations of human rights following a period of repressive rule or civil war. This dissertation argues that the needs of post-conflict societies are best served by local, participatory approaches to transitional justice. In the case of Guatemala, it was essential for the nation to embrace its common religious narrative as a resource for rebuilding the republic. The Guatemalan Catholic Church worked to build peace out of the ashes of state sponsored terror. It demonstrated the prophetic role of the Church by offering a collective voice condemning those in positions of authority for their neglect of the basic human rights of the majority of Guatemalans. The CEG also highlighted the reconciliatory function of the Church by promoting forgiveness and reconciliation within the public square. This experience calls for theological ethical reflection on how the Catholic Church could best serve the needs of civil society in the wake of nearly forty years of political violence. Responding to the need for critical theological reflection, this dissertation proposes a transformationalist understanding of the relation of love to justice for transitional justice. It draws its inspiration from a selective reading of Augustine and Augustinian scholarship. An Augustinian approach to transitional justice brings together the high moral ideas of love, justice, forgiveness, and peace while at the same time acknowledging the ever-present reality of sin and human weakness. It attempts to transform a post-conflict society into a moral community whose citizens are on a journey toward the destination of temporal peace. It realizes that we may never reach our destination of temporal peace, but we can glimpse it from afar. This dissertation offers the following ten Augustinian insights as a framework for a theological approach to transitional justice. 1) Charity is the motivating force for transitional justice and the pursuit of socio-political reconciliation; 2) Charity transforms our understanding of justice from noninterference and retribution to rehabilitating and reconciling; 3) Transitional justice ought to be contextual, paying attention to the unique concerns of a given post-conflict society; 4) Distinguishing, without bifurcating, the ends of the temporal and celestial commonwealths offers a positive, but not naïve, evaluation of the Church’s potential to be an instrument of social transformation; 5) Post-conflict societies need to foster conditions that allow for pluralism and social cohesion through civic friendship; 6) Post-conflict societies must develop social practices to train citizens in the civic virtues of love, justice, and friendship; 7) Transitional justice requires an ethical retrieval of the truth through the healing of memory; 8) Transitional justice upholds the moral obligation to admonish and correct sinful social behavior; 9) Transitional justice ought to foster the just and prudential protection of society through the use of coercive force on behalf of society’s most vulnerable citizens; and 10) Post-conflict societies need to cultivate and sustain an ethos of active hope that, far from inducing political passivity, promotes civic engagement. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Bulldozed, effaced, and paved over by the buildings and winding streets of Guatemala City, the vast majority of the archaeological remains of Kaminaljuyú are now lost to us. This early site, which reached its peak during the Late Preclassic period (ca. 300BC-250AD), was once the largest and most influential site of the Maya highlands and one of the most important sites of early Mesoamerica. This dissertation, begun as an art historical salvage project, is at once documentary and analytical. It not only focuses on recording and preserving the Late Preclassic bas-relief stone sculptures of Kaminaljuyú through accurate technical drawings, but also provides cautious and detailed analyses regarding what this iconography can tell us about this ancient site. In essence, the following chapters approach, flesh out, and describe the bodies of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú---the stone bodies, the divine bodies, and the human bodies that interacted with them across the built landscape. They discuss topics like human sacrifice, the Principal Bird Deity, and the myriad supernatural forms related to water and wind at Kaminaljuyú. They consider the noisiness of performance, the sensory impact of costumed rulers, and the ways in which these kings utilized the mythical, supernatural, and divine to sustain their rule. In addition to untangling the complex iconography of these early sculptures, these chapters give voice to the significance of these stones beyond their carved surfaces. They contemplate the materiality of stone and the ways in which the kingly body and sculpted monuments were inscribed, made meaningful, and performed to establish and maintain ideological, socio-political, and economic structures. In essence, then, these chapters deal with the interwoven themes of stone and bone and flesh and blood; with the structuring of human, sculpted, and divine bodies; and with the performative role these bodies shared as transformative spaces where extraordinary things could happen. In other words, this dissertation not only addresses stone carvings as crucial points of access into the belief structures and political strategies of Kaminaljuyú, but as active participants in the social, economic, and ideological processes that shaped human history at this ancient site. / text

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Latin American literature has a rich tradition of translating recreated realities and social commentaries into fictional works. In Central America, especially in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, these commentaries often speak to the plight of the people and the unjust actions of many governments during and after their still fresh civil wars. One Guatemalan author, Maurice Echeverría, stays within the broader trajectory of Central American literature with his novel Diccionario esotérico by creating a fictional work that speaks to a reality and asserts social commentary. This text differs from the corpus, though, by moving beyond the war and the postwar eras to a very current and prominent reality. This novel, which presents a critique of abuses of power in all of their manifestations, gives way to a striking commentary on evangelical organizations. This study will focus on extrapolating this critique to an actual evangelical organization working in Central America, thereby drawing connections between Echeverría’s critical/theological stance and real systems of power. / Master of Arts

The cultural and historical context in which La hija del adelantado was first published in 1866, is very important in this study because it helps us understand why Milla chose to write about the early colonial past, and why he valued the traditions and customs of those years. It is also shown how the author---mixing history and fiction---denounces the system of exploitation practiced by the colonizers of America, and uncovers the historical roots of some of the contemporary problems that affected the Guatemala of those days. / The main purpose of this work is to highlight the importance that Jose Milla places on his country's history, and to demonstrate that through the rewriting of the colonial past, the author contributes to the building process of the national identity. Also emphasized is the way in which Milla---giving priority to national history and to America's natural forces and beauty---places La hija del adelantado, as Guatemala's foundational text.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-155).

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The purpose of this study was to get an in-depth, complete picture of a social worker and child/family advocate in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The intent was to study the participant’s work and responsibilities in order to examine how she processed and completed her dual role as social worker/advocate and mother to a group of children in a children’s home. A focus on responsibility, the effect of her dual role, and the influence of her personal and religious convictions emerged throughout the study. The participant’s unique position in a dual role offered insight into the various aspects of advocacy and intervention in the developing county of Guatemala.

Santa Eulalia M. Md. 7, dated January 20, 1600, is part of the San Miguel Acatán Repertory, which originated in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala and is presently owned by the Lilly Library of Indiana University. The manuscript contains thirty-four four-part songs and dances, two thirds of which are villancicos for Christmas, Easter, the Eucharist, and the feasts of All Saints and St. Michael. The remaining third consists of Latin biblical texts in either fabordón or contrapuntal settings, three pieces with Náhuatl texts, and an instrumental pavana. The thesis contains a modern edition of Santa Eulalia M. Md. 7 with critical notes and commentary, a comparison of the pieces with villancicos and fabordones of European origin, and a survey of several aspects of Mayan culture.