Huasipungo - by Jorge Icaza (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This Huaisipungo edition is based on the author's definitive revision that was published in 1960. Among Ecuadorian writers, Icaza is perhaps the most renowned internationally due in great part to the publication of this novel in 1934. In it he proclaimed to the world the injustices to which the powerful landowners in an unholy alliance with the clergy held subjected the large indigenous population of Ecuador. The oligarchy of his country had throughout its history degraded them, violated any human right they were entitle to, took away anything of value that they possessed; in essence they considered the Indian population as entities that could be used and be disposed of at will. The novel's two revisions enabled Icaza to develop the main character, Andrés Chiliquinga, as a profoundly human and rational being. Through the suffering he is forced to endure, he, as a heroic figure, realizes that the patch of land that he has always labored is land that belongs to them, to all who had labored it and improved it. Atavistic wisdom had taught him that one must oppose and combat despotism. The time had come to encourage and exhort his people to confront and declare their unwillingness to continue to be submitted to such iniquity. In the same manner in which the actions of the protagonist transcend communities, fragment traditions and diminish attitudes, the message of the novel profoundly reverberated on a society steeped in traditional values and mores. The effort of structuring and recomposing this narrative world which Icaza carried out in his revisions (1953, 1960) contributes to both securing the extraordinary artistic merit of the work and strengthening the tone of the novel. This allows the modern reader to effectively participate in that reality. Having done this, Icaza guaranteed that Huasipungo stands as a monument to his intentions, and consolidates the literary seat of honor that it has achieved with the vigor of his 1934 denunciation.