Local practices of the Aymara and Quechua in Conima and Canas, Southern Peru

Abstract

This article was initially written in the ‘80s, when I was a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. Since then, great changes have occurred in Perú, and even greater changes have taken place in my thinking about Peru and about research in general. Although there is still considerable continuity regarding the Aymara musical traditions in Conima described in this article, major changes have affected the musical practices of the Quechua area of Canas. For example, young men in general no longer play the charango in Canas and the traditions described with respect to courtship have virtually vanished. In addition, the social categories (Creole, mestizo, Indian) in the essay have lost their relevance, and should have been more sophisticated when this text was originally written. Therefore, this article should be read as a piece of historical relevance and not as a description of contemporary practices in southern Perú.