The oral power of Cuniraya: Speech acts in the Manuscrito de Huarochirí; [La force orale de Cuniraya: les actes de parole dans Manuscrito de Huarochirí]; [O poder oral de Cuniraya: atos de fala no Manuscrito de Huarochirí]

Favarón P. · Lengua y Sociedad (2025) · DOI: 10.15381/lengsoc.v24i1.28570

Resumen

The viceregal administration in the Andes imposed a communicative system in which writing took precedence over orality. This primacy of the written word even had repercussions on the imaginary and idiosyncrasy of the indigenous nations. However, in the stories of the Huarochiri Manuscript we can still trace some conceptions of language that are typical of the oral and ritual sphere. A hermeneutic reading of these narratives allows us to highlight a series of linguistic reflections that could outline an indigenous understanding of language. The aim is to provide a new interpretative option for the Manuscript based on a dialogue with Austin’s speech act theory and Anthropology. An Amerindian reflection on the realisational power of the word and its contrast with the literate pride explicitly manifested by the indigenous writer will be presented. In this way, the heterogeneous nature of the viceregal document accounts for diverse idiosyncratic intertwinings that coexist, at times in conflict, in the text, but without cancelling each other out. © Los autores.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú