Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: An eruption of poetry written by indigenous Mapuche communities in Chile began in the 1980's.One of the main figures in this eruption is Elicura Chihuailaf, who writes both in Spanish and Mapudungun, one of many Mapuche dialects in Chile. 1 Chihuailaf has stated that his literary production lies in needing to "achieve dignity, of preserving and restoring for-and by-our own selves the soul of our people."(Vicuña1998: 25).One clear example of this preservation is found in the poem "Sueño azul" ("Blue Dream") where he writes: "Pero guardé en mi memoria el contenido/ de los dibujos/ que hablaban de la creación y resurgimento del/ mundo Mapuche/ de fuerzas protectoras, de volcanes, de flores y aves"(Chihuailaf 1998: 44).("But in my memory I kept the content of designs/ that spoke of creation and of the resurgence of the/ Mapuche world/ of protective powers, of volcanoes, of flowers and/ birds") (Bierhorst 1998:45).Critics from the 1990s to the present have studied various aspects of Mapuche poetry.Some, for example, have looked at how the Mapuche's orality, that is, their traditional way of passing on their social memory, has been compromised and tarnished by the act of writing. 2 Others have analyzed the connection between Mapuche poetry and its connection to current eco-political cases in southern Chile.3 Despite all of these important studies, critics have not analyzed the didactic effort put forth by Mapuche poets, which include, but are not limited to, teaching Mapudungun to their readers, and describing the Mapuche community's worldview.In doing so, the poets are creating a counter-discourse to continually imposed Western ideals about spirituality, consumerism and societal norms, among others.1 Some people spell it Mapuzungun.For the purposes of this essay, I am using Mapudungun. 2 For examples of this see Crow. 3 See Cárcamo-Huechante for a further analysis of this topic.Mignolo, Walter.
Author: Ruth Rodriguez
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2106730254