The death of the pro-indigenous movement and the resurrection of the melancholy intellectual in La tumba del relámpago

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1101-2019-133-146

Keywords:

Scorza, Indigenism, Peruvian literature, Intellectual, La guerra silenciosa

Abstract

In this article, I will analyze La tumba del relámpago, the last novel in the five-novel series La guerra silenciosa, by Manuel Scorza. I argue that this novel is not merely a continuation of the four other novels of the series, but rather a radical rewriting and reinterpretation of them, calling into question the ideological basis of the depiction in the other novels of the series of the conflict between peasants, landowners, and multinational corporations in Cerro de Pasco from the late 1950s onwards. I will focus on the gradual awakening of a political consciousness among the indigenous and mixed race population, the connections between the use of elements of indigenous myth and history/ historiography, and the relationship between the peasant movement and intellectuals. I maintain that, ultimately, the novel aims to reaffirm the political role of intellectuals in the peasant struggle and their importance within Peruvian society as a whole.

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Author Biography

  • Friedhelm Schmidt-Welle, Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany

    Friedhelm Schmidt-Welle estudió Literatura Latinoamericana, Literatura Comparada e Historia en la Universidad Libre de Berlín y la Universidad de Pittsburgh. Se doctoró con una tesis sobre Juan Rulfo y Manuel Scorza. Actualmente, se desempeña como investigador en Literatura y Estudios Culturales en el Instituto Ibero-Americano de Berlín. Ha enseñado Literatura Latinoamericana, Literatura Comparada y Literatura Alemana en universidades de Alemania, Chile y México. Entre 2008 y 2010 ocupó la Cátedra Extraordinaria Guillermo y Alejandro de Humboldt en El Colegio de México y la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, y en verano de 2010 fue Harris Dinstinguished Visiting Professor en el Dartmouth College, Estados Unidos. Sus campos de interés son las teorías culturales latinoamericanas y poscoloniales; modernidad y diferencia; y la representación literaria de la memoria. Es autor o editor de más de 20 libros sobre culturas y literaturas latinoamericanas y europeas.

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Published

2019-06-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

The death of the pro-indigenous movement and the resurrection of the melancholy intellectual in La tumba del relámpago. (2019). Desde El Sur, 11(1), 133-146. https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1101-2019-133-146

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