Please join us for the next installment in our "No More Than A Page" series. This series gives an opportunity for faculty and advanced graduate students to receive feedback on their research in process. Presenters provide attendees with a one-page summary of their current research and attendees engage in a lively discussion.
Victor Vimos, PhD candidate in the Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies program, will present "The Wamani: Representation of Mountain in the Mythology of the Quechua Community During the War."
Victor's research focuses on the impact that the internal war in Peru (1980-2000) had on a myth of a Quechua community. Specifically, he'll analyze the symbolic representation of the mountain, a non-human entity that in the Andes is part of the mythical imaginary that informs contemporary religiosity.
Victor Vimos is a PhD candidate in the Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies program. His fields of specialization are culture and literature in Latin America in the 21st century, and rituals and violence in the Andean region. His main research interests include the interdisciplinary approach between anthropology and literature to conduct research on ritual activity in indigenous communities. Specifically, he investigates how ritual mediates interaction between humans and nonhumans. His academic interests also include poetic language at the intersection of race and class.
This event is free and open to the public. Hosted by the Center for the Study of Religion, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Humanities Institute.
No More Than A Page: Victor Vimos' Research Page
The Wamani: Representation and Behaviors of Mountain in the Mythology of Quechua Communities During the War
Victor Vimos – Spanish and Portuguese Department OSU
In the Andean town where I grew up, I was warned that the mountains could steal my soul. To avoid this, I had to greet them and, as if they were my grandparents, be respectful to them. Years later, accompanying a group of Peruvian farmers to deposit an offering on the mountain, I was warned that it was hungry and, therefore, could eat me. Smoking, whistling, and strictly following the ritual to please the mountain were ways of staying safe. Numerous myths in the Andes describe the man-mountain relationship. In these myths both have agency and will for their interaction. This principle orders the symbolic representations and behaviors attributed to the mountain, and is an essential element of contemporary religiosity in this region.
My work investigates the man-mountain relationship during the period of violence (1980-2000) between the Peruvian army and Shining Path. I trace the shifting relationships between man and the mountain, rituality as a mediator between them, to inscribe and update mythical contents during the war. The basis of my research is interdisciplinary, combining my background in anthropology and literary studies. I study literary materials (novels, poetry) and anthropological materials (myths, agrarian and livestock songs, and ethnography) in order to analyze the impacts on the mythical imaginary of the Quechua communities of central and southern Peru.
In the Andes of Peru, the Wamani is perceived by people as a source of power. The Wamani is part of the family and protects life. Wamani guarantees fertility, health and protection, as long as the community gives him offerings through specific rituals throughout the year. The local myths of Moya (Huancavelica) and Santiago de Paucaray (Ayacucho), two communities in the region, identify the Wamani as a bird, a mammal or an old man. These identifications are connected to the fertility of animals, the land and humans. During the war years in Santiago de Paucaray, the Wamani became, however, a place of protection for Shining Path militants. In the memory of the community members, the word “escondite” refers to the relationship that the subversives had with the mountains where they found a place to hide. In Moya, in turn, people remember how community members went to seek death in the Wamani. Pressed by the horror of the war, the farmers wanted to lose themselves in the mountains, to be devoured by the mountains. These examples allow me to discuss the ambiguity attributed to the Wamani. I am interested in how, in a context of violence, these mythical narratives have shifted. I argue that the values attributed to the mountain are updated, incorporating contemporary facts into the ambiguous mythical narratives. My hypothesis is that these updated mythical narratives allowed the community to assimilate local violent events that have pitted relatives against each other.
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