Foxboy : intimacy and aesthetics in Andean stories / Catherine J. Allen ; with illustrations by Julia Meyerson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allen, Catherine J.

Contributor:

Meyerson, Julia, 1953-

Series:

Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quechua Indians--Folklore.

Quechua Indians.

Erotic stories.

Social aspects.

Tales.

Andes Region.

Quechua language--Texts.

Quechua language.

Quechua textile fabrics.

Foxes--Folklore.

Foxes.

Tales--Andes Region.

Erotic stories--Social aspects--Andes Region.

Genre:

Folklore.

Texts.

Physical Description:

xii, 279 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2011.

Summary:

Once there was a Quechua folktale. It begins with a trickster fox's penis with a will of its own and ends with a daughter returning to parents who cannot recognize her until she recounts the uncanny adventures that have befallen her since she ran away from home. Following the strange twists and turnings of this tale, Catherine J. Allen weaves a narrative of Quechua storytelling and story listening that links these arts to others-fabric weaving, in particular-and thereby illuminates enduring Andean strategies for communicating deeply felt cultural values.

In this masterful work of literary nonfiction, Allen draws out the connections between two prominent markers of ethnic identity in Andean nations-indigenous language and woven cloth-and makes a convincing case that the connection between language and cloth affects virtually all aspects of expressive culture, including the performing arts. As she explores how a skilled storyteller interweaves traditional tales and stock characters into new stories, just as a skilled weaver combines traditional motifs and colors into new patterns, she demonstrates how Andean storytelling and weaving both embody the same kinds of relationships, the same ideas about how opposites should meet up with each other. By identifying these pervasive patterns, Allen opens up the Quechua cultural world that unites storytellers and listeners, as listeners hear echoes and traces of other stories, layering over each other in a kind of aural palimpsest. Book jacket.

Contents:

Fringe 1

Beginning 15

I A Married Couple 30

II A Fox! 41

III Inner Threads 50

IV Strange Spouses 63

V Listening to Numbers 84

VI "Chayrí?" "And Then?" 100

VII At the Base of a Boulder 110

VIII House of Damned Souls 122

IX Cannibal Lover 134

X Mamacha 144

XI Inside Out 153

Returning 162

Fringe 177.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0292723210

9780292723214

0292726678

9780292726673

0292734840

9780292734845

OCLC:

679936682