“Chapter 7: The Andean novel” – Ismael Márquez
Comps people mentioned:
-
José
Carlos Mariátegui, Siete ensayos de
interpretación de la realidad peruana (pg. 143)
-
Cornejo Polar, secondary source article/s (pg. 143-145)
-
Clorinda
Matto de Turner, Aves sin nido (pg.
145)
-
José
María Arguedas, Los ríos profundos
(pg. 147-148)
General notes:
Introduction
-
Andean
countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina
-
Countries
whose populations consist of a majority of Indians: Peru, Ecuador, and
Bolivia
-
Centrality of Indian in the novel of the Andean countries
(142)
-
Indianismo =
Romantic literary production of the nineteenth century written about the
Indian, characterized by exoticism, the lack of a political agenda vindicating
indigenous values, and a sense of nostalgia for the grandeur of the ancient
civilizations (142)
-
Indigenismo =
movement of vast ideological and aesthetic projections early in the twentieth
century; seeks to reassert the cultural values of the indigenous peoples of the
Americas, vindicate their social and economic interests, and reveal their
authentic being and reality (143)
o
Division
between “indigenismo” movement and “indigenista” literature (as discussed in José Carlos Mariátegui’s Siete ensayos de interpretación de la realidad peruana)
o
Indigenista literature
was written for and by an emerging middle class and produced in an urban
environment; deals with themes about the Indian but does not allow the Indian
to express himself
-
Jose Carlos Mariátegui, Siete ensayos
de interpretación de la realidad peruana, 1928 (143)
o
Argument that indigenista literature cannot
portray a true picture of the Indian
o
Claim that true indigenous literature (indígena)
would only come when Indians themselves produced it
o
Readers of Indigenista literature do not include
Indians
o
Idea that any attempt to address the so called “problem
of the Indian” in social, ethnic, religious, ethical, educational, political,
or juridical terms would be destined to fail
o
Idea that “Indian” problem was strictly economic,
and its solution could only be found in socialism
-
Cornejo Polar
– Peru’s leading literary theorist of indigenismo (143-144)
-
Heterogeneity of indigenista literature (144)
-
Indigenista literature
– distinctive features: (144)
o
Tone of social protest aimed at undoing
immediate evils
o
The imposition of ideology on plot and character
o
A black and white construction of good and evil
o
Little stylistic preoccupation
o
Little or no character development
o
Superficial description of folklore and customs
o
Principal intent is to portray oppression
o
Pessimistic vision of world
-
Transition from indigenismo to neoindigenismo
begins in the decade of the 1950s with the publication of the Peruvian José María Arguedas’s Los
ríos profundos (144)
-
Essential elements
of neoindigenista literature according to Cornejo
Polar (144-145):
o
Use of magical realism to reveal the mythical
dimension of the indigenous world
o
Intensification of lyricism as a category
integrated into the narrative
o
Expansion and improvement of narrative
techniques through a process of experimentation
-
“While indigenismo
was informed by the basic contradiction between the indigenous communities and
the landowners allied with the state, neoindigenismo deals with more intangible
problems, existential conflicts, and the human condition” (145)
The Peruvian novel
-
Trend of political and social criticism in the
Peruvian novel (145)
-
Clorinda Matto de Turner, Aves sin
nido, 1889 (145)
o
Indigenista
fiction
o
Directly attacks the institutionalized exploitation
of Andean Indians by the religious, judicial, and governmental officials
o
Calls for a program of national public education
as the primary solution to the predicaments of the indigenous peoples
o
External and stereotypical portrayal of the Andean
people
o
Representation of the Indian as an individual
dispossessed of any vestiges of cultural and ethnic identity
o
First significant effort to bring to light the
appalling condition of the Peruvian Indian in a novel
-
“political factionalism of the first two decades
of the twentieth century in Latin America, and particularly in Peru, caused an
intense campaign on behalf of indigenous populations” (146)
-
José María Arguedas, Los ríos
profundos, 1958 (147-148)
o
Initiation of a new stage of development in
indigenista fiction – transition into neoindigenismo
o
Creation/use of a special literary language that
would reflect the oral qualities of Quechua
o
Arguably the most genuine representation of
Andean culture in indigenista fiction, more authentic and convincing image of
the Indian
o
Careful treatment of the Indian
magical-religious vision of the world
o
Summary –
pg. 147-148
o
Novel highlights the conflict between two social
orders and two diverging views of the world
-
In the 1950’s, emergence of a predominantly
urban fiction informed by the masses of Andean migrants to the urban centers of
Peru (148)
-
In the 1970’s, there is a return to rural themes
and a neoindigenista movement (150)
-
End of military dictatorship in Peru in 1980,
difficult road towards democratization (151)
The Ecuadorian novel
-
No comps
people, so I just barely skimmed this section (pg. 153-156)
The Bolivian novel
-
Distinguishing feature
of Latin America fiction of the twentieth century: the experimentation with
narrative structure and the loss of stature of the author as an active subject
of the discourse, and the ascendancy of the narrator as the focal point of the novel
(157)
-
Mining has been one of the most important
economic activities of Bolivia since colonial times (158)
-
Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay,
1932-1935 (158)
