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The Lyrical Creation of Community: Song as a Catalyst of Social Cohesion in Andean Peru


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Authors

Pigott, Charles M 

Abstract

This article examines the performative role of waynu, a widespread song-genre in the Andes, in creating an “intersubjective community” among participants. The data-corpus comprises extracts from interviews which I conducted during a year’s period of fieldwork (2010–2011) in Chiquián and Pomabamba, Ancash department, Peru. I couple my analysis of the extracts with congruent concepts in Quechua, the Indigenous language, in order to show how Indigenous philosophical orientations can provide as robust an analytical framework as concepts in formal scholarship. I conclude by suggesting that the application of an intersubjective analytical framework to the study of verbal art can constitute a productive agenda for future research on Indigenous traditions.

Description

Keywords

Peru, Quechua, verbal art, intersubjectivity, emotional contagion, social cohesion

Journal Title

AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1177-1801

Volume Title

9

Publisher

Sage
Sponsorship
This research was possible thanks to generous support from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, United Kingdom.