Drawing on literary, historical and political documents, Kristal examines the fictional representation of the Indian in Peruvian narrative. He reconsiders a major but neglected period of literary production and provides a methodology for the study of literary themes that happen to be significant topics of debate or controversy in the political arena. Novels and short stories can reflect or react to views on the Indian expressed in political programs, literary salons and sociological treatises, but they can also become major factors in the development of political or sociological discourse on the Indian. Kristal demonstrates that the literary representation of the Indian is a complex urban phenomenon.
Reconstructs how life was in the ancient cities of the Andes including how village settlements gave way to religious centers, how city-states became empires, and the importance of Machu Picchu.
A Newbery Medal Winner An Incan boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his ancestors. "The story of an Incan boy who lives in a hidden valley high in the mountains of Peru with old Chuto the llama herder. Unknown to Cusi, he is of royal blood and is the 'chosen one.' A compelling story."—Booklist
Portraits in the Andes examines indigenous and mestizo self-representation through the medium of photography from the early to mid twentieth century. As Jorge Coronado reveals, these images offer a powerful counterpoint to the often-slanted, predominant view of indigenismo produced by the intellectual elite. Photography offered an inexpensive and readily available technology for producing portraits and other images that allowed lower- and middle-class racialized subjects to create their own distinct rhetoric and vision of their culture. The powerful identity-marking vehicle that photography provided to the masses has been overlooked in much of Latin American cultural studies—which have focused primarily on the elite's visual arts. Coronado's study offers close readings of Andean photographic archives from the early- to mid-twentieth century, to show the development of a consumer culture and the agency of marginalized groups in creating a visual document of their personal interpretations of modernity.
During the last decade, the South American continent has seen a strong push for transnational integration, initiated by the former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who (with the endorsement of eleven other nations) spearheaded the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), a comprehensive energy, transport, and communications network. The most aggressive transcontinental integration project ever planned for South America, the initiative systematically deploys ten east-west infrastructural corridors, enhancing economic development but raising important questions about the polarizing effect of pitting regional needs against the colossal processes of resource extraction. Providing much-needed historical contextualization to IIRSA’s agenda, Beyond the City ties together a series of spatial models and offers a survey of regional strategies in five case studies of often overlooked sites built outside the traditional South American urban constructs. Implementing the term “resource extraction urbanism,” the architect and urbanist Felipe Correa takes us from Brazil’s nineteenth-century regional capital city of Belo Horizonte to the experimental, circular, “temporary” city of Vila Piloto in Três Lagoas. In Chile, he surveys the mining town of María Elena. In Venezuela, he explores petrochemical encampments at Judibana and El Tablazo, as well as new industrial frontiers at Ciudad Guayana. The result is both a cautionary tale, bringing to light a history of societies that were “inscribed” and administered, and a perceptive examination of the agency of architecture and urban planning in shaping South American lives.
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.
Geronimo Stilton's relaxing vacation turns into a crazy treasure hunt in South Dakota, complete with a run-in with a mountain lion and a hot-air balloon ride to Mount Rushmore.
