Birds Without a Nest

by Matto De Turner, Clorinda; Hudson, J. G.; Lindstrom, Naomi

• ISBN13: 9780292751958
• ISBN10: 0292751958
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

"This emended translation of Latin America's first indigenista novel ( Aves sin nido, 1889), written by Peruvian feminist Matto de Turner, is welcome for many reasons.... It deserves a reading now more than ever, as Latin American literature reaches its maturity, and as social struggles in the Hispanic new world continue with the intensity and irresolution of two centuries." --Choice "I love the native race with a tender love, and so I have observed its customs closely, enchanted by their simplicity, and, as well, the abjection into which this race is plunged by small-town despots, who, while their names may change, never fail to live up to the epithet of tyrants. They are no other than, in general, the priests, governors, caciques, and mayors." So wrote Clorinda Matto de Turner in Aves sin nido , the first major Spanish American novel to protest the plight of native peoples. First published in 1889, Birds without a Nest drew fiery protests for its unsparing expose of small town officials, judicial authorities, and priests who oppressed the native peoples of Peru. Matto de Turner was excommunicated by the Catholic Church and burned in effigy. Yet her novel was strongly influential; indeed, Peruvian President Andres Avelino Caceres credited it with stimulating him to pursue needed reforms. In 1904, the novel was published in a bowdlerized English translation with a modified ending. This edition restores the original ending and the translator's omissions. It will be important reading for all students of the indigenous cultures of South America.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Author' Preface

The Town of Killac

The Yupanqui Family

Indian Loans, l500 Per Cent

White House

Priest and Governor

Juan' Return Home

Fernando' Gift to Lucia

Danger Ahead

A Stratagem

Rosalia Restored

Dontilde;a Petronila

Marcela Pays the Priest

Sold to Rochino

The Plot

The Assault

Hope Renewed

Evil Deeds

The Indian' Gratefulness

Melitona Gleaning News

The Burial of Juan

Manuel and His Mother

The Instigators Interviewed

A Secret Revealed

A Shot That Missed Its Mark

Marcela Follows Juan

The Priest' Confession

Sebastian' Bad Conscience

Fernando and the judge

Manuel, a Good Teacher

Colonel Paredes

Tired of Killac

No Need of a Warrant

The Wrong One Imprisoned

Going to Lima

Father Pascual' Solitude

Talking It Over

Fleecing the Indian

Margarita and Manuel

Doubts, Fears, and Hopes

Teodora' Escape

The Pursuit

Manuel' Birth Veiled

The Hide, Then the Flesh

A Heroine of Love

One Against Five Thousand

Fernando Enlightens Lucia

Martina Visits Isidro

Fernando' Proposal

The Departure and Arrest

Comments

To the Station

Manuel Follows

The Journey by Rail

The Prisoners Released

A Terrible Shock

Grand Imperial Hotel

The Agate Cross

Birds without a Nest

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