José María Arguedas Altamirano (18 January 1911 – 2 December 1969) was a Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist. Arguedas was an author of Spanish descent, fluent in the Native Quechua language, gained by living in two Quechua households from the age of 7 to 11 – first in the Indigenous servant quarters of his step-mother’s home, then, escaping her “perverse and cruel” son, with an Indigenous family approved by his father – who wrote novels, short stories, and poems in both Spanish and Quechua.
Generally remembered as one of the most notable figures of 20th-century Peruvian literature, Arguedas is especially recognized for his intimate portrayals of Indigenous Andean culture. Key in his desire to depict Indigenous expression and perspective more authentically was his creation of a new language that blended Spanish and Quechua and premiered in his debut novel Yawar Fiesta.
The critic Martin Seymour-Smith has dubbed Arguedas “the greatest novelist of our time,” who wrote “some of the most powerful prose that the world has known.”
(Wikipedia)
Arguedas on Conflict and Convergence Without End
If colonization is not (yet) complete, then the outcome of this struggle is perhaps still to be determined.
- Arguedas, José María. Deep Rivers. Trans. Frances Horning Barraclough. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2002.
Arguedas Videos
#43: “Deep Rivers” by José María Arguedas (Perú, 1958):
José María Arguedas:
Uku Mayu – For José María Arguedas:
- Arguedas, José María. “The Novel and the Problem of Literary Expression in Peru.” Yawar Fiesta. By José María Arguedas. Trans. Frances Horning Barraclough. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2002. xiii-xxi.
- Cornejo Polar, Antonio. Los universos narrativos de José María Arguedas. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1973.
- Jones Heestand, Mela. “Historicizing Language and Temporality in José María Arguedas’ Deep Rivers.” History, Imperialism, Critique: New Essays in World Literature. Ed. Asher Ghaffar. London: Routledge, 2018. 183-204.
- Kraniauskas, John. “A Short Andean History of Photography: Yawar fiesta.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 21.3 (September 2012): 359-378.
- Morales, Christina. “The Purple Drink that has the Heart of Peruvians”. The New York Times. October 6, 2022.
- Vargas Llosa, Mario. “Afterword: Dreams and Magic in José María Arguedas.” Deep Rivers. By José María Arguedas. Trans. Frances Hornings Barraclough. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978. 235-42.
The chicha served in the chicherías in Arguedas’s novel is a type of corn beer: chicha is a generic name for home-brew fermented beverages found throughout the Andes, whose use dates back to the Inca, who drank it ceremonially, for instance after defeating enemies in battle. Its non-alcoholic cousin, chicha morada, is also of pre-Hispanic origin, and is made by simmering purple corn with fruit such as pineapple, apples, strawberries, and lime, along with sugar and spices, and straining the resultant liquid. Both chicha and chicha morada have largely been overtaken by their commercial counterparts—branded beer and soft drinks—but chicha morada in particular maintains its position both among the very poorest and, as an element in pricey cocktails, as part of Peru’s high-end gastronomic revival (Morales, “The Purple Drink that has the Heart of Peruvians”). It can also be bought in shops ready-made or in powdered form: just add water. More generally, in contemporary Peruvian Spanish, “chicha” refers to the, often gaudy, hybrid popular culture of Indigenous people in urban centres such as Lima.
Arguedas Questions
- What does the book suggest are the characteristics of Indigenous culture?
- What does the book suggest are the characteristics of Spanish/European culture?
- What is the significance of the “deep rivers” of the title?
- Why is Ernesto so drawn to the zumbayllu?
- What is the role of music in the novel?
- What is the role of language and linguistic difference in the novel?
- Why do we never learn the fate of characters such as Lleras or Doña Felipa… or even Ernesto himself?
- What, if anything, does Ernesto learn over the course of the novel?
The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
On Ernesto
What did you think of Ernesto’s background?
Do you think that Ernesto wanted to die from the plague? Did he stay in Abancay or go to The Old Man’s Hacienda?
What is the most memorable aspect of Ernesto for you?
What are some differences between Ernesto’s way of thinking and the boys at the boarding school?
What do you think Ernesto did after leaving Abancay?
At the end, is Ernesto changing the original plan to go to his uncle’s hacienda?
One part I thought was interesting is that I didn’t find any definite reasons why Ernesto’s dad hates Ernesto’s uncle, the Old Man so much. What do you think the reason is?
In what ways does Ernesto’s internal and outward journeys, as portrayed in the novel, advance our knowledge of cultural hybridity and the process of personal development in such circumstances?
How do you think Ernesto’s prolific travel history impacted his experience at the school?
On Quechua culture
Have you ever experienced a profound connection with nature, similar to Ernesto’s relationship with the Pachachaca River? How did this connection shape your understanding of the world around you?
Was there any part about Quechuan culture in the book that you enjoyed reading about the most?
How would you interpret the “deep rivers”?
What role do you think Music serves in this book?
On Cultural Identity
Do you find that music is an important mechanism for your memories and cultural identity?
If you are someone who is mono cultural, or even if you are someone who is bicultural, do you identify with my experience? Is it mistaken of me to assume that my loneliness or sense of lack of belonging, came from my multiculturalism?
How does the protagonist’s struggle with identity and belonging mirror the experiences of individuals caught between cultures in contemporary society? How can this shape your understanding of cultural identity?
How do you feel about the ending of the novel being that it is one that is ambiguous one that stops at the point of change, when a new stage is about to begin in the character’s evolution and growth?
Do you feel the material is too complicated to expand far enough where there can be a complete ending as the complexities of race through a bicultural lense will always envoke debate and the nature of the topic will have to navigate through new conversation/understandings of race, privilege and intersectionality?
Have you ever experienced the cultural (or identity) dissonance in your life? Or Do you have any personal experience to share about facing inequality or oppressed power?
From where you grew up, are you a part of an ethnic minority? If yes, how has it shaped your experience? If no, what do you think the privileges are of growing up surrounded by your people and being immersed in your culture?
Are there any words or elements in your culture that hold a significant meaning?
Reflecting on Ernesto’s moment with his zumbayllu in the courtyard, how does this act of play and connection to cultural traditions serve as a means for Ernesto to assert his identity and navigate the challenges of isolation and belonging within the school environment?
What did you think about the racial classification or identification throughout the novel? How do you think Ernesto’s use of race as a way of describing and individualizing people in the book speaks to the larger issue of post-colonial identity with Indigenous culture?
On Nature
Do you have a place that you connect to, like how Ernesto had the Pachachaca River? If yes, what is it? And why do you have a special connection to it?
What are some more differences, besides the interconnectedness of nature and humans, that you noticed Arguedas brought up throughout his book?
How important do we think nature is in our lives and what role does it play in shaping our personalities?
How do you think you can implement more gratitude and reciprocity in your life towards the earth/nature?
Other
What did you think of the overall pace of the book? Did you find it slow at times like I did, or were you fully engaged throughout?
What are your thoughts on “growing up” being a recurrent theme in the books we read?
What do you feel the other boys see when they think of it? What do you think could be an object symbolic to the other boys (i.e Palacitos’s coin)?
Do you think Lleras died?
