ABSTRACT
La Fiesta de Santo Tomás of Chichicastenango, Guatemala, represents an opportunity to study two aspects of the emergence of the Hispanic Baroque: first, it allows for an examination of the ways that different forms of representation reflect modes of domination. The second aspect of the Hispanic Baroque that La Fiesta de Santo Tomás allows to trace and assess is the process of syncretism and cultural parallelism between social and ethnic groups in modern Guatemala. Of great importance to the understanding of the Hispanic Baroque has been the theorizing around how cultural diversity emerges from the coming together of the pre-Columbian world with the Spanish colonial cultural, and religious system in what is referred to as the First Transatlantic Culture. The marketplace in Chichicastenango is the heart of the town and was established adjacent to the ancient Cakchiquel temple. The importance of the Fiesta de Santo Tomás as a technology of culture can be understood in the context of Guatemalans historiography.
