Myth as Urban Collective Memory: A Reading of José María Arguedas’s Representation of Cuzco in Los Ríos Profundos

Maxwell Woods

doi:10.5565/rev/mitologias.1106

Myth as Urban Collective Memory: A Reading of José María Arguedas’s Representation of Cuzco in Los Ríos Profundos

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article explores the socio-political function of mythical representations of urban space in Latin American literature. Based on an analysis of the first chapter of José María Arguedas’s Los ríos profundos (1958), I argue that myth is a narrative technology of collective memory that binds together a regional community through the practice of reproducing shared narratives of the urban meaning of a uniting city. More precisely, I look at the function of the myth of Cuzco as the “center of the world” in the opening chapter of Arguedas’s novel.

Translated title of the contribution	EL MITO COMO MEMORIA COLECTIVA URBANA: UNA LECTURA DE LA REPRESENTACIÓN DEL CUZCO EN LOS RÍOS PROFUNDOS DE JOSÉ MARÍA ARGUEDAS
Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	54-64
Number of pages	11
Journal	Mitologias Hoy
Volume	31
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/mitologias.1106
State	Published - Dec 2024
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Arguedas
Collective Memory
Cuzco
Literary Urban Studies
Myth

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10.5565/rev/mitologias.1106

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title = "Myth as Urban Collective Memory: A Reading of Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a Arguedas{\textquoteright}s Representation of Cuzco in Los R{\'i}os Profundos",

abstract = "This article explores the socio-political function of mythical representations of urban space in Latin American literature. Based on an analysis of the first chapter of Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a Arguedas{\textquoteright}s Los r{\'i}os profundos (1958), I argue that myth is a narrative technology of collective memory that binds together a regional community through the practice of reproducing shared narratives of the urban meaning of a uniting city. More precisely, I look at the function of the myth of Cuzco as the “center of the world” in the opening chapter of Arguedas{\textquoteright}s novel.",

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AB - This article explores the socio-political function of mythical representations of urban space in Latin American literature. Based on an analysis of the first chapter of José María Arguedas’s Los ríos profundos (1958), I argue that myth is a narrative technology of collective memory that binds together a regional community through the practice of reproducing shared narratives of the urban meaning of a uniting city. More precisely, I look at the function of the myth of Cuzco as the “center of the world” in the opening chapter of Arguedas’s novel.

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KW - Literary Urban Studies

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ER -

Myth as Urban Collective Memory: A Reading of José María Arguedas’s Representation of Cuzco in Los Ríos Profundos

Abstract

Keywords

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