Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties
By turning the figure of the colonial chronicler Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala into an indigenous migrant during the tumultuous nineteen eighties in the poem “His Body Was an Island of Debris” (1987), Domingo de Ramos critiqued the transhistorical nature of colonialism, as it manifests through the dis...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Latin American Research Commons
2020-06-01
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Series: | Latin American Literary Review |
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Online Access: | https://account.lalrp.net/index.php/lasa-j-lalr/article/view/158 |
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author | Olga Cristina Rodriguez-Ulloa |
author_facet | Olga Cristina Rodriguez-Ulloa |
author_sort | Olga Cristina Rodriguez-Ulloa |
collection | DOAJ |
description | By turning the figure of the colonial chronicler Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala into an indigenous migrant during the tumultuous nineteen eighties in the poem “His Body Was an Island of Debris” (1987), Domingo de Ramos critiqued the transhistorical nature of colonialism, as it manifests through the displacement and killing of thousands of indigenous peoples. I interpret de Ramos’ work as an opportunity to center ideas about race, an analytic overlooked in the literary criticism of the time. His portrayal of migration mobilizes a poetic critique of the main discourses of Peruvian literary studies that conveniently left racial hierarchies unchallenged, even while being invested in the new political potential of migrants. This specular relationship that de Ramos creates between himself and Guamán Poma allows him to ponder about his own positionality in the literary field of the eighties, which was uncritically participating in the migrant trend almost exclusively through De Ramos’ personae. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:19:46Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-a8ea0b194db94bb6b7a971f0bcb69543 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2330-135X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:19:46Z |
publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
publisher | Latin American Research Commons |
record_format | Article |
series | Latin American Literary Review |
spelling | doaj.art-a8ea0b194db94bb6b7a971f0bcb695432023-10-19T14:48:29ZengLatin American Research CommonsLatin American Literary Review2330-135X2020-06-01479410.26824/lalr.158Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian EightiesOlga Cristina Rodriguez-Ulloa0Lafayette CollegeBy turning the figure of the colonial chronicler Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala into an indigenous migrant during the tumultuous nineteen eighties in the poem “His Body Was an Island of Debris” (1987), Domingo de Ramos critiqued the transhistorical nature of colonialism, as it manifests through the displacement and killing of thousands of indigenous peoples. I interpret de Ramos’ work as an opportunity to center ideas about race, an analytic overlooked in the literary criticism of the time. His portrayal of migration mobilizes a poetic critique of the main discourses of Peruvian literary studies that conveniently left racial hierarchies unchallenged, even while being invested in the new political potential of migrants. This specular relationship that de Ramos creates between himself and Guamán Poma allows him to ponder about his own positionality in the literary field of the eighties, which was uncritically participating in the migrant trend almost exclusively through De Ramos’ personae.https://account.lalrp.net/index.php/lasa-j-lalr/article/view/158migrationcolonialityraceDomingo de RamosFelipe Guamán Poma de Ayala |
spellingShingle | Olga Cristina Rodriguez-Ulloa Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties Latin American Literary Review migration coloniality race Domingo de Ramos Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala |
title | Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties |
title_full | Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties |
title_fullStr | Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties |
title_full_unstemmed | Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties |
title_short | Debris and Poetry: A Critique of Violence and Race in the Peruvian Eighties |
title_sort | debris and poetry a critique of violence and race in the peruvian eighties |
topic | migration coloniality race Domingo de Ramos Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala |
url | https://account.lalrp.net/index.php/lasa-j-lalr/article/view/158 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT olgacristinarodriguezulloa debrisandpoetryacritiqueofviolenceandraceintheperuvianeighties |