José María Arguedas

José María Arguedas (1911–1969) is one of the most important authors to speak to issues of the survival of native cultures. José María Arguedas: Reconsiderations for Latin American Cultural Studies presents his views from multiple perspectives for English-speaking audiences for the first time.

The life and works of José María Arguedas reflect in a seminal way the drama of acculturation and transculturation suffered not only by what we think of as the indigenous and mestizo cultures of Peru, but by other Latin American societies as well. Intricately reflecting his pluricultural and bilingual life experience, Arguedas’s illuminating poetic visions of Andean culture cross multidisciplinary borders to transfigure pedagogical and social practices.

Few texts convey the complexity and contradictions of an Andean cosmopolitanism with the intense accuracy of Arguedas’s anthropological, ethnographic essays and literary writings. The ramifications of Arguedas’s cultural critiques have yet to be assessed, particularly as a response to the disruptive forces of modernity, acculturation, and essential identity.

José María Arguedas was a Peruvian ethnographer, anthropologist, folklorist, poet, and novelist. He based his novels and stories on the life and outlook of the Quechua-speaking Indians and was a pioneer of modern Quechua poetry.

The present anthology brings his work to the attention of broader audiences by pulling together diverse scholarly views on Arguedas’s aesthetic and multicultural contributions to the contemporary and political archipelago. It is a synthesis of his views on cultural change as it impinges upon considerations and theories of Latin American cultural studies.