Mihas, Elena (2014) Upper Perené Arawak Narratives of History, Landscape and Ritual. Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas . University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, USA.

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Abstract

Published through the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The rich storytelling traditions of the Ashéninka Perené Arawaks of eastern Peru are showcased in this bilingual collection of traditional narratives, ethnographic accounts, women's autobiographical stories, songs, chants, and ritual speeches. The Ashéninkas are located in the colonization frontier at the foot of the eastern Andes and the western fringe of the Amazonian jungle. Unfortunately, their language has a slim chance of surviving because only about three hundred fluent speakers remain. This volume collects and preserves the power and vitality of Ashéninka oral and linguistic traditions, as told by thirty members of the Native community. Upper Perené Arawak Narratives of History, Landscape, and Ritual covers a range of themes in the Ashéninka oral tradition, through genres such as myths, folk tales, autobiographical accounts, and ethnographic texts about customs and rituals, as well as songs, chants, and oratory. Transcribed and translated by Elena Mihas, a specialist in Ashéninka language varieties, and grounded in the actual performances of Ashéninka speakers, this collection makes these stories available in English for the first time. Each original text in Ashéninka is accompanied by an English translation and each theme is introduced with an essay providing biographical, cultural, and linguistic information. The result is a masterful and authoritative yet entertaining and provocative collection of oral literature that vividly testifies to the power of Ashéninka storytelling.

Item ID:	37700
Item Type:	Book (Research - A1)
ISBN:	978-0-8032-4537-2
Additional Information:	"I am very grateful to the thirty Ashéninka Perené narrators for their invaluable contribution to this book. Their expertise, enthusiasm, camaraderie, and good-humored attitude in the face of occasional setbacks made the whole process an extremely enlightening and rewarding enterprise for me. My warmest thanks go to Gregorio Santos Pérez and Delia Rosas Rodríguez, the editors of native texts and team leaders whose doggedness and clear understanding of the project's goals enormously sustained our teamwork. I also acknowledge with gratitude other book contributors: Raul Martin Bernata, Victoria Manchi de Martin, Ines Pérez de Santos, Moises Santos Rojas, Elías Meza Pedro, Ruth Quillatupa Lopez, Daniel Bernales Quillatupa, Bertha Rodríguez de Caleb, Abdias Caleb Quinchori, Victorina Rosas de Castro, Gerardo Castro Manuela, Julio Castro Shinkaki, Paulina García Ñate, Alberto Pérez Espinoza, Elena Nestor de CapulTo, Fredi Miguel Ucayali, Luis Mauricio Rosa, Manuel Rubén Jacinto, Cristobal Jumanga Lopez, Abraham Jumanga Lopez, Otoniel Ramos Rodríguez, Clelia Mishari, Livia Julio de Quinchori, Frida Thomas Huamán, Almacia Benavidez Fernandez, Luzmila Machari Quinchori, María Virginia Lopez, and Carmen Pachiri Quinchori. I also thank Dora Meza de Santos for invaluable assistance during our trips to remote communities."--Acknowledgements, p. xix.
Funders:	Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research, National Science Foundation (NSF), Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP)
Projects and Grants:	NSF grant DDIG #0901196, ELDP grant SG 0002
Research Data:	https://research.jcu.edu.au/lcrc/audio-videos/asheninka-perene
Date Deposited:	15 Apr 2015 02:28
FoR Codes:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2004 Linguistics > 200408 Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) @ 50% 20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2004 Linguistics > 200405 Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics) @ 50%
SEO Codes:	97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture @ 100%
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