Mama Yaku (Mother Water): the Andean Divinities of Water in Colonial Chronicles and in Contemporary Quechua and Aymara Poetry

Macedo M.M. · Mitologias Hoy (2023) · DOI: 10.5565/rev/mitologias.982

Resumen

In the Andean world, water is a fundamental and sacred element, which is why there are divinities that promote its existence as Illapa (god of rain). The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how there is a ritual continuity in the representation of the Andean divinities of water in two moments and discourses: first, to analyze their representation in the colonial chronicles of Guaman Poma de Ayala and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega; second, to study contemporary Quechua and Aymara ritual poetry. Between these two horizons, the aim is to highlight continuities. To do this we will use the Andean categories kawsay (everything has life), ayni (we all need everyone to exist) and pachakutiy (overturning the world) in order to approach the spaces of production of texts. This is within the Andean worldview that considers that everything is alive and related (the dead, the stones, the rivers), which places us in an intense animism.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos