Religious and self-generated Quechua literacy practices in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

This article discusses Quechua speakers' religious literacy practices in the native language in a rural community located in the department of Cuzco (Peru). I argue that in a situation where the school did not play the role of developing or maintaining the written vernacular, a group of community members found specific situations where they felt comfortable writing in their mother tongue. This study contributes to the discussion of native language literacy and Quechua language maintenance by examining adult and child Quechua literacy practices in the religious realm. Additionally, I present the case of Marcos, as an example of a self-generated literacy practice of authoring huaynos (songs in Quechua), as a result of the author's participation in a Protestant church. Findings show that literacy skills developed in the religious domain can be transferred across contexts. However, these literacy practices were endangered by macro forces of globalization.

Keywords:

• mother tongue
• language maintenance
• community languages
• indigenous languages
• Quechua
• Peru

Acknowledgements

Field research was made possible by the support of the Asociación Pukllasunchis. Thanks to the comuneros from Urpipata for their friendship and to my colleagues Aurolyn Luykx, Alberto Esquinca, Zulma Mendez, and Concha Delgado-Gaitán for their comments on previous versions of the manuscript.

Notes

1. Two different languages or varieties have a diglossic relationship when they are used for distinct functions.

2. Cuzco was the capital of the Inka Empire. Nowadays the population is bilingual (Quechua and Spanish). In Urpipata, inhabitants are all Quechua speakers and use Spanish to different degrees.

3. Because of its proximity to the city of Cuzco, educational authorities did not see the need for IBE in Urpipata.

4. One main difference between Urpipata and Umaca is that, in Umaca, 90% of the population was affiliated with the Evangelical church (Zavala 2002).

5. In Quechua, the term ñawsa is used both for ‘blind’ and ‘illiterate.’ In Quechua-speaking communities, people frequently associate being literate with ‘having eyes’ (ñawiyuq) or being able to see (Montoya 1990; Zavala 2002).

6. This is a local adaptation of the word in Spanish himnario.

7. Data for this case were collected during three formal interviews (30 August 2001, 25 July 2002, and 2 September 2002) and many informal conversations. Marcos' interviews were conducted both in Quechua and Spanish, frequently code-switching.

8. During my interviews, Marcos explained his writing process and gave examples through his songs. Words he sang are italicized.