INCA LITERATURE: BACKGROUND, CHARACTERISTICS AND THEMES - LITERATURE - 2025

The Inca literature includes all those literary expressions belonging to the civilization that occupied the region of the Tahuantinsuyo between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries (now are the territories of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile).

Throughout the pre-Hispanic era, the existing Inca literature was rich, varied and of oral tradition. Part of this literature was preserved thanks to the work of chroniclers who compiled nearly a century of pre-Hispanic Inca history.

Source: es.m.wikipedia.org. Author: Miguel Vera León. Brüning Museum. Lambayeque, Peru.

In this sense, his work involved the task of listening to stories in the original languages ​​of the empire (mostly Quechua, Aymara and Chanka) and translating them into Spanish.

Only thanks to these transcripts, some samples of Inca narratives, religious poetry and legends have survived to current generations.

Inca literature also includes the works made by indigenous writers during and after the colonial period. In their works, they reflected nostalgia for a glorious past and anguish for an uncertain present.

Historical background

Like many ancient civilizations, the Inca culture did not develop a writing system. This fact has made it difficult to recover the historical memory prior to the arrival of the Spanish.

Historically, the first writings on Inca literature are the chronicles recorded by European authors. These authors compiled the entire Inca history from stories collected throughout the empire.

However, these chroniclers had to face the inconvenience of interpreting a totally different vision of the world from the one they knew.

On the other hand, the oral nature of the sources of information and the time elapsed between the event and its registration, introduced contradictions in the stories.

Thus, many of the chronologies about the Inca rulers are riddled with errors. Even in many chronicles the same feats, events and episodes are attributed to different rulers.

Later, as colonization progressed, mestizo and indigenous chroniclers appeared who continued the work of historical documentation. Some also described its vicissitudes as a conquered people.

Characteristics of Inca literature

Oral tradition

Historical memory was passed from generation to generation. The vehicles used were the legends, myths and songs told and interpreted by indigenous speakers and narrators called haravicus and amautas.

The haravicus were the Inca poets and the amautas were in charge of composing the theatrical works (comedies and tragedies). At the request of their audiences, they wove the exploits of the kings and queens of the Inca past.

Anonymity

All the literature generated before the arrival of the Spanish had anonymous authorship, a characteristic reinforced by oral tradition. The names of possible authors disappeared with time from the minds of the rapporteurs.

Court literature and popular literature

Before the arrival of the conquerors, there were two clearly differentiated types of literature. One of them was the so-called official or courtesan literature and the other was popular literature.

In general, they consisted of prayers, hymns, narrative poems, plays and songs.

Linking with music and dance

Ancient Inca literature conceived of poetry, music and dance as a single activity. For this purpose, the poetic compositions were accompanied by music and songs in all the presentations.

Pantheism

In the Inca literature the pantheistic vision of this Andean civilization was reflected. His works mix elements of nature, such as the earth and the stars, with divinities without making any distinction.

In their hymns and prayers, which were intended to worship their gods, references to nature were very common. The personification of mother earth in the figure of the Pachamama is an example of this pantheism.

Frequent Topics

Agrarian themes were common in Inca literature. All the social activity of the Inca people revolved around agriculture. For this reason, they dedicated many literary works to praise this activity and, also, to their agricultural gods.

Also, in his poetry / songs (the songs were poems with music), the preferred subject was love (especially lost love).

On the other hand, through literature knowledge about astronomy, religious rituals, philosophy, natural sciences and - in general - about the physical world around the empire were transmitted.

Featured authors and works

Garcilaso de la Vega, The Inca (1539-1616)

Garcilaso, a mestizo Peruvian writer, was the illegitimate son of the Spanish captain Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega y Vargas and the Indian princess Isabel Chimpu Ocllo, granddaughter of Túpac Yupanqui, one of the last Inca emperors.

This New World historian adopted the nickname "Inca" to vindicate his mixed racial origin. He lived between the indigenous world and the Spanish, and this mestizo condition marked his entire life and work.

In one of his main works, Royal Comments (1608), he recounts the history of the Inca civilization from its origins to the arrival of the first conquerors.

Titu Cusi Yupanqui (1529-1570)

The Cusi Yupanqui, whose Spanish name was Diego de Castro, wrote the Relation of the conquest of Peru and Hechos del Inca Manco Inca II.

However, the first work was published 46 years after his death. It was a direct and passionate defense of native peoples, and was inspired by the abusive treatment of natives by the Spanish ruler.

In Hechos del Inca Manco II, Cusi Yupanqui writes about the last Inca king of Cuzco, Manco Inca, and his rebellion in 1535. Using vivid narrative and dramatic rhetoric, he portrays him as a brave and heroic warrior.

Joan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Sallqamaygua

This bilingual native wrote the Relation of Antiquities of the Reyno del Pirú. His work has a clearly evangelical tone because he was a convert to Catholicism.

Although Santacruz Pachacuti condemns the idolatry of some Andean peoples, he rescues the faith of the Incas and compares it with Spanish Catholicism.

He also writes beautifully about native traditions and mythology. This writer is very important because he was the first to reveal and include Inca poetry.

In his chronicle, he weaves together the religious and liturgical hymns of Sinchi Roca, Manco Capac and Huascar. When writing about the Manco Capac anthem, Santacruz Pachacuti emphasizes its lyrical form and use of metaphor.

On the other hand, Sinchi Roca's anthem is also beautifully described. It was composed by the Inca to honor his first-born son in the same way that Catholics honor the Son of God.

Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala (- Approx. 1615)

The information available on the life of Guamán Poma is incomplete. His date of birth is unknown and he believes that he died in Lima in 1615.

This indigenous writer felt intensely the suffering and deprivation of his own people (Inca), and traveled through the viceroyalty of Peru recording their experiences.

In 1908, Robert Pietschmann discovered a manuscript of his authorship in the Royal Library in Copenhagen: New Chronicle and Good Government. This chronicle describes the Inca culture from the beginning to the conquest.

In addition, in this manuscript, addressed to King Felipe III, Guamán Poma included some verses preserved from the times of the Inca culture or composed with the Inca style during the first years of the Colony.

References

1. D'Altroy, TN (2014). The Incas. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
2. Malpass, MA (2009, April 30). Daily Life in the Inca Empire. Westport: Greenwood Press.
3. Pedagogical folder. (s / f). Inca literature. Taken from folderpedagogica.com.
4. Mallorquí-Ruscalleda, E. (2011). Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca (1539-1616). In M. Ihrie and SA Oropesa (editors), World Literature in Spanish, pp. 422-423. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
5. Smith, V. (Editor). (1997). Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.