Yawar Fiesta

 Week 6: Yawar Fiesta 

Yawar Fiesta taught me about an aspect of Peruvian indigeneity that I had not heard about and narrated an andean indigenous and european conflict that I was not aware of; it was a super interesting, engaging, and eye-opening read.

The book narrates the already existing (as in before the bullfighting regulation) conflicts between the mistis and the comuneros, and how the two are always distinctly separated as local and foreigner. Arguedas constantly criticizes the mistis, explaining that they just hang out in the parlor, gamble, get drunk, and get fat for their entire lives, and that they own the majority of the cropland but know nothing about agriculture, and that they colonized the wheat fields to plant alfalfa instead. Before reading Yawar Fiesta, all of my knowledge about Spanish-indigenous relations/conflict in Peru stemmed from Guaman Poma's text and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega's Comentarios reales de los Incas, both of which are situated in the 1500s/1600s; I had little knowledge of neocolonialsm in Peru in the 20th century and how prominent it was, especially in the small towns in the high Andes, but through the book I picked up on so many similarities between the ideologies of the mestis and those of the Spaniards in Latin America in the 1500s, like justifying cultural domination/assimilation/ because the indigenous practices are "barbaric and savage", as well as exploitation and deceit, like how the comuneros provided the bull but then wouldn't be able to participate in their cultural event. The only contemporary knowledge I had was the notion of "acoustic colonialism" from a visiting professor's presentation last year, which refers to the hegemonic soundscape of a place, and that Peru's soundscape nowadays is primarily Spanish. Reading this text reminded me of this concept because I feel like Arguedas resists acoustic colonialism by incorporating so many Quechua terms, words, and concepts in his book; the reader must learn and understand each language term in order to understand the bigger story, most of the book is dialogue which emphasizes the value of orality, and he doesn't substitute any Quechua terms for the Spanish equivalent, he remains consistent. Anyways, going back to my original thought, I wasn't familiar with Peru's indigenous tradition of bullfighting, and loved how clearly Arguedas emphasized the importance of the various components of the event for Quechua identity and culture and how nature agreed with the Quechua traditions rather than those of the Spaniards; I love the part where they think that K'ayau will be first in the bullring and so the moon comes out, the wheat fields are prominent, and eucalyptus trees appear as if to show approval. 

I thought that the conclusion of the book was both satisfying and realistic, and it particularly stuck with me. It was realistic because Spanish bullfighting and culture was placed forefront and ahead of the comunero's wishes, but satisfying because in the end, the comuneros were able to partake in traditional Quechua bullfighting with their cultural practices; for me, it left on a compelling note of a tale of indigenous resistance.