Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries
The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed a literary revival in the Indigenous languages of the region known canonically as “Latin America.” Across this varied corpus, a major theme is the cultural significance of maize. This article compares the depiction of maize in four bilingual po...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Latin American Research Review |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1542427824000294/type/journal_article |
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| author | Charles M. Pigott |
| author_facet | Charles M. Pigott |
| author_sort | Charles M. Pigott |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed a literary revival in the Indigenous languages of the region known canonically as “Latin America.” Across this varied corpus, a major theme is the cultural significance of maize. This article compares the depiction of maize in four bilingual poems, each written in a different Indigenous language alongside Spanish: Nahuatl (Ethel Xochitiotzin Pérez), Yucatec Maya (María Dolores Dzul Barboza), Central Quechua (César Vargas Arce), and Southern Quechua (Emilio Corrales). Through close textual analysis and by recourse to theoretical perspectives such as “literary cartography,” the “textual continuum,” “deep mapping,” and “trans-indigeneity,” the article argues that each poem communicates culturally specific ways of understanding geography that, when set in dialogue, challenge hegemonic definitions of the Western Hemisphere such as North, South, or Latin “America.” Rather, the poems in combination weave an interconnected yet multiperspectival cartographic tapestry with maize as the common thread. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b66740799e4e43c28b7bcabe419e6e3d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1542-4278 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Latin American Research Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-b66740799e4e43c28b7bcabe419e6e3d2025-08-20T02:13:35ZengCambridge University PressLatin American Research Review1542-42782025-03-016011810.1017/lar.2024.29Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic ImaginariesCharles M. Pigott0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2512-2576University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United KingdomThe twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed a literary revival in the Indigenous languages of the region known canonically as “Latin America.” Across this varied corpus, a major theme is the cultural significance of maize. This article compares the depiction of maize in four bilingual poems, each written in a different Indigenous language alongside Spanish: Nahuatl (Ethel Xochitiotzin Pérez), Yucatec Maya (María Dolores Dzul Barboza), Central Quechua (César Vargas Arce), and Southern Quechua (Emilio Corrales). Through close textual analysis and by recourse to theoretical perspectives such as “literary cartography,” the “textual continuum,” “deep mapping,” and “trans-indigeneity,” the article argues that each poem communicates culturally specific ways of understanding geography that, when set in dialogue, challenge hegemonic definitions of the Western Hemisphere such as North, South, or Latin “America.” Rather, the poems in combination weave an interconnected yet multiperspectival cartographic tapestry with maize as the common thread.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1542427824000294/type/journal_articlemaizeIndigenous literaturesQuechuaMayaNahuatlliterary cartographymaízliteraturas originariasquechuamayanáhuatlcartografía literaria |
| spellingShingle | Charles M. Pigott Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries Latin American Research Review maize Indigenous literatures Quechua Maya Nahuatl literary cartography maíz literaturas originarias quechua maya náhuatl cartografía literaria |
| title | Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries |
| title_full | Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries |
| title_fullStr | Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries |
| title_short | Maize Landscapes in Indigenous Literatures: Toward Alternative Cartographic Imaginaries |
| title_sort | maize landscapes in indigenous literatures toward alternative cartographic imaginaries |
| topic | maize Indigenous literatures Quechua Maya Nahuatl literary cartography maíz literaturas originarias quechua maya náhuatl cartografía literaria |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1542427824000294/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT charlesmpigott maizelandscapesinindigenousliteraturestowardalternativecartographicimaginaries |