Indigenous Narrative: Subjectivity in and through Testimonial

This class traces writing by and about the indigenous; from a preconquest discourse of the vanquished to contemporary testimonial as denunciation of atrocities committed during the Guatemalan civil war. Central themes that guide this study are: the insertion of a marginalized subject into the canon, mediation of discourse, mestizaje, the characterization of the indigenous in idealized or material terms, Marxist interpretations of indigenous reality in the Andes, and the appropriation and transformation of socially committed literature. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) Vision de los vencidos (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonoma ISBN 968837315X); 2) Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios reales (México: Juan Leon Mera, Cumandá (ISBN 9978800271); 3) Jorge Icaza, Huasipungo; (España: Catedra Porrua); 4) Rigoberta Menchú, Me llamo Rigoberta Menchu (Siglo Veintiuno 16th edición, ISBN 9682313155). Other readings will be made available in electronic form, to include for example Mariátegui, Siete ensayos de la realidad peruana.