The Andes: A Cultural History

Description

The Andes form the backbone of South America. Irradiating from Cuzco--the symbolic navel of the indigenous world--the mountain range was home to an extraordinary theocratic empire and civilization, the Incas, who built stone temples, roads, palaces, and forts. The clash between Atahualpa, the last Inca, and the illiterate conquistador Pizarro, between indigenous identity and European mercantile values, has forged Andean culture and history for the last 500 years. Jason Wilson explores the 5,000-mile chain of volcanoes, deep valleys, and upland plains, revealing the Andes' mystery, inaccessibility, and power through the insights of chroniclers, scientists, and modern-day novelists. His account starts at sacred Cuzco and Machu Picchu, moves along imagined Inca routes south to Lake Titicaca, La Paz, Potos�, and then follows the Argentine and Chilean Andes to Patagonia. It then moves north through Chimborazo, Quito, and into Colombia, along the Cauca Valley up to Bogot� and east to Caracas. Looking at the literature inspired by the Andes as well as its turbulent history, this book brings to life the region's spectacular landscapes and the many ways in which they have been imagined. CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION: AN INFINITY OF PEAKS Lack of Air Chapter One: ADAPTING TO THE ANDES LIFE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS Andean Man and Woman Condors Guanacos, Llamas, Alpacas and Vicuñas Chapter Two: PERU TRACES OF A LOST EMPIRE Cuzco: Navel of the World Sacsayhuamán Machu Picchu Vilcabamba Chapter Three: PERU NOSTALGIA AND VIOLENCE Santiago de Chuco: César Vallejo’s Andean Roots The Andes Imagined (1): Mario Vargas Llosa’s Lituma en los Andes The Andes Imagined (2): Ciro Alegría’s El mundo es ancho y ajeno Cajabamba Quechua The Andes Imagined (3): Manuel Scorza’s La Guerra silenciosa Quena (Qena) and Music Chapter Four: PERU AREQUIPA AND THE CORDILLERAS Mount Coropuna The Colca Valley Chambi’s Andes Ayacucho and the Shining Path The Andes Imagined (4): José María Arguedas and Abancay Bridges Climbing the Cordilleras: Huaraz, Chavín de Huántar and Nevado Huascarán Huánuco Jauja The Source of the Amazon Chapter Five: PERU/ECUADOR CAJAMARCA AND THE INCA’S HEAD Chimborazo Cotopaxi Chapter Six: ECUADOR QUITO AND THE VOLCANOES Pichincha Cayambe, Corazón, Illiniza Hummingbirds Earthquakes Sangay Ingapirca Quipus Chapter Seven: ECUADOR FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE SIERRA The Andes Imagined (5): Jorge Icaza’s Huasipungo The Andes Imagined (6): Henri Michaux’s Ecuador Pumas Trains and Roads The Andean Diet: Potatoes, Chicha and Maize Coca Quinine Chapter Eight: BOLIVIA/PERU TIAHUANACO, TITICACA AND THE WORLD’S HIGHEST CAPITAL Aymara Lake Titicaca Puno La Paz Chapter Nine: BOLIVIA POTOSÍ: MOUNTAIN OF SILVER Sucre The Andes Imagined (7): Alcides Arguedas’ Raza de bronce Tschiffely and the Indians Oruro and Cochabamba The Andes Imagined (8): R. C. Hutchinson’s Rising Weaving Andean Food and Markets Guinea Pigs and Natural Viagra Chapter Ten: ARGENTINA TALES OF THE EMPTY PUNA The Andes Imagined (9): Héctor Tizón’s Fuego en Casabindo Gorriti’s Andes Roberto Payró and Catamarca Ernesto Sabato and Lavalle’s Ride up Humahuaca Andalgalá Chapter Eleven: ARGENTINA/CHILE THE OPEN VEINS Chuquicamata The Andes from Above: Saint-Exupéry Newbery and Plüschow: The Icarus Syndrome Alive: Cannibalism and Survival Chapter Twelve: ARGENTINA/CHILE ACONCAGUA: SENTRY OF STONE San Martín’s Heroic Crossing under Aconcagua “Galloping” Head and the Andean Passes Bariloche Osorno Volcano The Patagonian Andes and Perito Moreno Onelli’s Andes The Mapuche Aucanquilcha and Llullaillaco The Andes Imagined (10): Marta Brunet’s Montaña adentro Chapter Thirteen: ARGENTINA/CHILE POETS, PATRIOTS AND PRISONERS “Deathly Quiet”: Gordon Meyer and San Martín de los Andes Mount Fitzroy and Cerro Torre Neruda’s Andean Crossing Tupungato: Keenan and McCarthy Cordillera Sarmiento/Mount Sarmiento Chapter Fourteen: COLOMBIA IN SEARCH OF EL DORADO Popayán Medellín and Cali The Andes Imagined (11): Eduardo Caballero Calderón’s El Cristo de espaldas Quindío Bogotá Tequendama Falls and Lake Guatavita Chapter Fifteen: VENEZUELA WHERE THE ANDES MEET THE CARIBBEAN The Andes Imagined (12): Lisa St. Aubin de Terán’s The Hacienda Arepas and Ají Conrad’s Andes Caracas Humboldt and La Silla GLOSSARY A B C E G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V Y FURTHER READING INDEX OF LITERARY & HISTORICAL NAMES A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z INDEX OF PLACES & LANDMARKS A B C E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V Y Z