Peruvian literature

Literature from Peru, past and present

The term Peruvian literature not only refers to literature produced in the independent Republic of Peru, but also to literature produced in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the country's colonial period, and to oral artistic forms created by diverse ethnic groups that existed in the area during the prehispanic period, such as the Quechua, the Aymara and the Chanka South American native groups.

The literature of Peru's discovery and conquest includes all works produced in the region during its discovery and conquest by Spain. It can also refer to literature produced roughly around this time. The period begins on November 15, 1532, in Cajamarca with the capture of the last Inca lord, Atahualpa; it ends with the complete dismantling of the Incan Empire and the founding of the city of Lima. The principal literary manifestations of this period are in the form of chronicles of discovery, or are epistolary in nature. Major works which explore the literature of this time include Francisco Carrillo's Enciclopedia histórica de la literatura peruana (Historical Encyclopedia of Peruvian Literature), and various tomes by Raúl Porras Barrenechea which detail the works of the early chroniclers.

There were a number of indigenous and mestizo chroniclers in Peru. Many of the indigenous chroniclers, such as Titu Cusi Yupanqui, were of royal Incan bloodlines. After familiarizing himself with Spanish culture, Yupanqui wrote Relación de cómo los españoles entraron en Pirú y el subceso que tuvo Mango Inca en el tiempo en que entre ellos vivió (The Narrative of How the Spaniards Entered Piru and Mango Inca's Experiences while Living Among Them) in 1570. In it, he presents a vision of his own history, and presents Incan creation myths, traditions and customs, historical memories and impressions regarding the conquest and colonial dominance. Other similar works are Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua's Relación de antiguedades deste reyno del Piru (Narrative of the Antiquity of this Kingdom of Piru) 1613, and Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala's El primer nvueva corónica y bven govierno (First New Chronicle and Good Government) written between 1585 and 1615, but first published in 1936, in which the author details the devastation of the Andean world and tries to make sense of the chaotic reality in which the indigenous peoples find themselves. Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti also writes a chronicle in which he crudely attempts to explain the Inca cosmogony in rudimentary Spanish. Guamán Poma, wrote an extensive 1179 page letter to the king of Spain, Philip III, in which he narrates the history of his universe and ends with a proposal for a utopic society. He embarks on a harsh criticism of the authorities, of the abusive priesthood, of the Spanish envoys and landed gentry, and of "mestizo" and creole society. In the words of Luis Alberto Sánchez, this long and futile letter constitutes an indictment of the colonial system.

The hegemony of Creole oligarchy in Peruvian society favored the abandonment of indigenous forms in favor of European ones. Particularly successful among these were the imitation of Petrarch and the use of Greek and Roman mythological allusions, as practiced by the Academia Antártica literary group in Lima in the 16th and 17th centuries. Early writers associated with the Academia include Francisco de Figueroa, Diego Mexía de Fernangil, and the anonymous poets remembered only as "Clarinda" and "Amarilis". Later Neoclassicists, such as Manuel Asencio y Segura and Felipe Pardo y Aliaga, arose, too, and the genre dominated until the end of the 19th century.

The 19th century brought Romanticism to Peru, with the works of Carlos Augusto Salaverry and José Arnaldo Márquez. Narrative prose developed away from the pastoral works of Manuel Ascensio Segura and Ricardo Palma) (see Costumbrismo) toward Modernism, with the works of Manuel González Prada and José Santos Chocano. There were also literary women who wrote in the romantic and modernista style but who also cultivated works that gravited toward [realism] and [naturalism]. These included Juana Manuela Gorriti, Teresa González de Fanning, Clorinda Matto de Turner, and Mercedes Cabellero de Carbonera.

The general crisis following the War of the Pacific gave rise to Modernism in Peru. Its best known exponents were José Santos Chocano and José María Eguren. Also notable but who has not received the critical attention she deserves is Aurora Cáceres, the author of two novels and a dozen works of non fiction prose. The Avant garde movement was encouraged by the magazines Colónida and Amauta. Amauta was founded in 1926 by the prominent socialist essayist José Carlos Mariátegui. The influential poet César Vallejo was one of its collaborators. There were various splinter groups among the Avant Gardist poets, whose major exponents were Xavier Abril, Alberto Hidalgo, Sebastián Salazar Bondy and Carlos Germán Belli. Interest in indigenous poetry was resurrected by the work of Luis Fabio Xammar. Others who brought Indigenism to the fore were Ciro Alegría, José María Arguedas, and Manuel Scorza. During the 1950s urban realism developed with the works of Julio Ramón Ribeyro and the playwright Sebastián Salazar Bondy. Realism is also the province of the major luminary Mario Vargas Llosa, while Alfredo Bryce Echenique incorporated new narrative techniques within the genre. Some of the most notable names in poetry are Jorge Eduardo Eielson, Carlos Germán Belli, Antonio Cisneros, Wáshington Delgado, Marco Martos. Noteworthy in narrative prose are: Miguel Gutiérrez, Gregorio Martínez, Alonso Cueto and Guillermo Niño de Guzmán, among others.