José María Arguedas y su pensamiento sobre la literatura

The Peruvian José María Arguedas (1911–1969) is often seen mainly as a novelist, ethnologist, or as a poet. However, one of the most important aspects of his work remains somewhat neglected – his thinking about literature, which reflects his conception of the world. On the basis of selected essayistic and ethnological texts, recorded interviews, and reflections close to the philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey, this anthology maps Arguedas’ thoughts on literature, which include themes such as literary authenticity, the timelessness of the work of art growing out of the innermost experience and regional sense of belonging, and the materiality of language, “Arguedasian realism,” the relationship between beauty, fiction, and the writer’s mission, the unity of life and work, the issue of provincial and professional writers, and polemics with Julio Cortázar and Sebastián Salazar Bondy.