Praxis Objective
In my practice there are several sources of research in Quechua, books, oral tradition, iconographic descriptions, songs, testimonials, and personal interaction while traveling. All documentary filming is done in places where they do not speak Spanish. They only speak Quechua, so it’s very important that I speak and understand at least 40% of the language. So, for several years I have been studying Quechua.
Language acquisition
As a young boy I grew in Arequipa, South Andes in Peru. Graciela, my nannie, spoke Quechua and she would speak and sing to me. As a result, I learned sentences, songs, and sayings. This experience was my first imprint of Quechua. My family moved to Lima when I was 7 years old. The Quechua language was not accepted in Lima. They also did not want to hear my Quena (bamboo notched flute) or Antara, (bi-polar pan-flute) they called it: “Música de Indios.” For 12 years Quechua and wind instruments were prohibited and censored by the Lima culture/society of that time.
The first Quechua dictionary, Raymond Thevenov, El Polen and Wayruro
During the 1968 Peruvian Coup D’état, General Juan Velasco Alvarado took over the country as a leftist dictator. He made Quechua the second official language in Peru. My uncle Cesar Guardia Mayorga, was a professor of philosophy in La Universidad de San Marcos, he wrote the first dictionary in Quechua in 1961. This political change placed more importance on the Quechwa language for the first time.
Raymond Thevenov, a symphonic orchestra flute Swiss musician, moved to Peru to study and play the Quena. He produced several LP.s. and it became the “Boom of the Quena” this musician and his concerts influenced a new generation in Lima to accept the music as “exotic. “
Juan Pereira, in 1969 founded the group, "El Polen." It was a hippie group with a native instrument’s fusion with rock music. Their concerts and LPs also influenced the young Lima’s generation proposing acceptance of native instruments as our own. In the 90's "Wayruro" appeared, a ten members Latin Jazz ensemble. Their fusion music used the Quena and the siku.
These changes influenced my life and at 17 years old, I started to play Quena and Antara music and to practice Quechua again.
Clodoaldo Soto and Tom Zuidema, UIUC 1990
While doing an MEd. and an MFA, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign I took two graduate Quechua classes with Professor Clodoaldo Soto, He taught Native Languages, Quechua in The Department of Latin American Studies. I also took two graduate classes with Dr. Tom Zuidema in Anthropology, Iconography of the Andes, and Iconography Studies.
Lima, 2022
While in Lima, Peru this November I took several classes. The lessons were in person and via Zoom with Carmen Cazorla Zen, a Quechua professor of the Pontificia Universidad La Católica del Peru. And she is also an anthropology professor at the Universidad de San Marcos. Lima, Peru.
DIOSES Y HOMBRES DE HUAROCHIRI. NARRACION QUECHUA RECOGIDA POR FRANCISCO DE AVILA 1598
Creemos que este libro, al que hemos dado el título de “Dioses y Hombres de Huarochirí” es la obra quechua más importante de cuantas existen, un documento excepcional y sin equivalente tanto por su contenido como por la forma. “Dioses y Hombres de Huarochirí” es el único texto quechua popular conocido de los siglos XVI y VVII y el único que ofrece un cuadro completo, coherente, de la mitología, de los ritos y de la sociedad en una provincia del Perú antiguo.
Este libro muestra con el poder sugerente del lenguaje no elaborado, limpio de retórica, la concepción total que el hombre antiguo tenía acerca de su origen, acerca del mundo, de las relaciones del hombre con el universo y de las relaciones de los hombres entre ellos mismos. Y, además, alcanza a transmitirnos mediante el poder que el lenguaje antiguo tiene, las perturbaciones que en este conjunto habían causado ya la penetración y dominación hispánica.
José María Arguedas
Retablo is a 2017 drama film directed by Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio.The film is an international production with the participation of Peru, Germany and Norway. The cast also includes Magaly Solier as Anatolia, Segundo's mother and Noé's wife. Delgado-Aparicio's full-length directorial debut, the film is written and acted in Ayacucho Quechua.
Wikipedia