From Manchay Tiempo to 'Truth': Cultural Trauma and Resilience In
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From Manchay Tiempo to ‘Truth’: Cultural Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Peruvian Narrative Adriana Beatriz Rojas Hopatcong, New Jersey M.A., University of Virginia, 2010 B.A., American University, 2004 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese University of Virginia September 2014 Ricardo Padrón Fernando Operé María-Inés Lagos Jeffrey Olick ii iii Abstract From Manchay Tiempo to “Truth”: Cultural Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Peruvian Narrative Adriana Beatriz Rojas Clashes between the Shining Path and counterinsurgency during Peru’s internal conflict left the scars of symbolic, physical, and sexual violence on civil society. Peruvian cultural production has since engaged the memory, trauma, and lasting effects of this violence. The old paradigm of reading such productions through the framework of regional allegiances—criollo and Andean—is monological and inadequate for interpreting novels and films composed in the postconflict period of the 1990s and 2000s. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2003 also altered significantly the predominant narrative of cultural trauma by shifting the focus from the Shining Path to government abuses. The first chapter of this dissertation studies precommission representations of the armed conflict in the criollo text Lituma en los Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa and the Andean text Rosa Cuchillo by Oscar Colchado. Despite supposed differences in ideology and representations of lo andino, both construct a space of death that communicates a pessimistic moral imagination because they cannot conceive of a nonviolent Peru. The second chapter shines a light on a shift in the cultural trauma discourse: detective fiction exposes the government as the main perpetrators of the internal conflict. I examine Abril rojo by Santiago Roncagliolo and Mientras huya el cuerpo by Ricardo Sumalavia as exemplary ruptures with the discourses of lo andino that instead focus on the trauma of the armed conflict and its legacy. Alberto Durant’s film Cuchillos en el cielo and Ulises Gutiérrez Llantoy’s novel Ojos de pez abisal—the foci of the third chapter—depict the challenges of transitional justice in the face of diaspora, impunity, and stigmatization. Both texts present a need for two kinds of justice models, recovery and restorative, to deal with the needs of victims, survivors, and ex- offenders. The final chapter engages Claudia Llosa’s La teta asustada for a discussion on iv postmemory and the traumatic effects of the armed conflict on the postgeneration, which is made up of subjects attempting to overcome the blows of memory and cultivate resilience. In the face of injustice, impunity, and the impossibility of closure, these texts either scrutinize problems in postconflict Peru or present the resilience of the human spirit and alternative paradigms for moving forward after a turbulent historical period. Such explorations propose a dialogical, reconciliatory criticism that focuses not on outdated nineteenth- and twentieth-century dichotomies but on how race, gender, and class intersect with trauma and resilience as a part of the reformulation of identity and relationships after violent conflict. v Acknowledgments I am beholden to Eastern Mennonite University first for inviting me to join the faculty knowing that I still was writing my dissertation, and second for exposing me to the egalitarian and compassionate culture that informs this dissertation. I express gratitude to my colleagues in the Language and Literature Department: Vi Dutcher, Michael Medley, Don Clymer, and Carol Snell- Feikema. They have provided me space and time to immerse myself in the dissertation. Jane Clemmons, my mentor, provided much needed emotional support as I juggled writing the dissertation and working full time. EMU’s grant committee awarded me a reduced workload. Nancy Heisey and Deirdre Smeltzer were patient and gracious with me. I also would like to show appreciation to the faculty from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding: Barry Hart, Carl Stauffer, and Howard Zehr. Their scholarly work and the conversations we had contributed to bringing peacebuilding to Hispanic literary studies. All in all, I owe a debt of gratitude to EMU because its culture—circle processes, trauma awareness, resilience strategies, conflict transformation, and literature of peacebuilding— coalesces in this project. My dissertation director Ricardo Padrón has been instrumental in shaping me as a scholar. He has shown me how to organize my “nonlinear”—yet, creative—thinking, to use theory wisely, and to write like an academic. He always has given me space during our meetings to “talk out” my ideas and analysis and steered me in the right direction. His patience and guidance has been an essential part to the growth of this project. I thank him for taking me under his wing, introducing me to people that could help with this unique project, and directing me in this work. I also extend a heartfelt thanks to those who early on helped to shape the dissertation. I remember fondly the time I spent working for the UVa Peru Program with Jorge Secada, Ivy Arbulú, Patricia Mendoza, and Lisbeth Huerta Tipiana. They introduced me to Peru and its culture. Verónica Salles-Reese has been decisive in both the inspiration and formation of the project; she coached me on how one begins to write a dissertation by encouraging me to read and take copious amounts of vi notes. She introduced me to Mientras huya el cuerpo by Ricardo Sumalavia and Ojos de pez abisal by Ulises Gutiérrez Llantoy. Francisco Ortega and Jeffrey Olick passed on to me numerous materials about trauma theory and memories studies. My mentor, Sylvia Chong, also helped me conceptualize the theory I use in chapter 2. Anne Lambright connected me to the field of Peruvian studies and I am thankful she shared with me the chapters of her forthcoming book. I appreciate the members of my committee Fernando Operé and María-Inés Lagos for supporting me throughout this process. Because no one should go at the dissertation alone, I am also thankful for the emotional, comedic, and technical support my mentors, friends, and family have provided me on this “marathon.” I am blessed to have Linda Bullock as a mentor; she was always there for me when I needed help navigating the tricky waters of graduate school and the dissertation. Tim McCallister— mil gracias for providing necessary comic relief from the dissertation and thoughtful feedback on early versions of my chapters. Kátia Sherman, Stéphanie Berard, and Eleonora Raspi—I express gratitude for their unconditional friendship and being there for me when things were difficult. Melissa Frost, my running buddy, I always looked forward to our weekly runs and intellectual conversations. Carlos and Angela Rojas—mami y papi—set up an office and cooked for me while I visited New Jersey. Christine Malloy—mi ñaña—ensured that I took breaks in between work and shared with me her two wonderful children. Thank you, Sarge, for being that little heartbeat at my feet, as I would furiously type away at my desk, who would remind that four o’clock had long past and it was time to take a break, get the leash and go for a run. I am grateful to the Peruvian writers that helped me along the way: Patricia de Souza, Santiago Roncagliolo, Ricardo Sumalavia, Ulises Gutiérrez Llantoy, and Alberto Durant. I esteem your work and I hope to stay in touch with you in the future. Above all I would like to laud my husband Patrick Campbell for being a peacebuilder and for the hours of conversation we would spend discussing key theoretical aspects from his vii field. You brought peacebuilding into our home; introduced me to restorative justice. Thank you for your love, patience, contributions, and understanding during this journey. viii Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 1: The Moral Imagination of the Peruvian Armed Conflict: Spaces of Death in Lituma en los Andes and Rosa Cuchillo .....................................................................................................47 Chapter 2: Exposing Truths in Detective Fiction: (De)Constructing and Discourses of Trauma in Abril rojo and Mientra huya el cuerpo ........................................................................................112 Chapter 3: Cries from Above and Below: The Need for Restorative Justice Models in Postconflict Peru in Cuchillos en el cielo and Ojos de pez abisal ...............................................173 Chapter 4: Mother’s Milk, Potatoes, and Song: Transgenerational Trauma and Resilience in La teta asustada ................................................................................................................................235 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................................................279 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................291 Rojas 9 Introduction In May 2009, I arrived to Lima, Peru, to work as an instructor and administrator for the University of Virginia’s Peru Program. I was still becoming accustomed to life in the bustling metropolis when I was assigned to take a group of students to an adaptation of Antigone by the Peruvian