Cañar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador (Hardcover)

~ Judy Blankenship (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

General readers will enjoy this book. . . . It will appeal to those who are curious about life in a Third World village and those who are interested in contemporary indigenous communities. (Lynn Hirschkind, Professor and Academic Director, Lewis and Clark College International Program, Cuenca, Ecuador )

Product Description

Once isolated from the modern world in the heights of the Andean mountains, the indigenous communities of Ecuador now send migrants to New York City as readily as they celebrate festivals whose roots reach back to the pre-Columbian past. Fascinated by this blending of old and new and eager to make a record of traditional customs and rituals before they disappear entirely, photographer-journalist Judy Blankenship spent several years in Canar, Ecuador, photographing the local people in their daily lives and conducting photography workshops to enable them to preserve their own visions of their culture. In this engaging book, Blankenship combines her sensitively observed photographs with an inviting text to tell the story of the most recent year she and her husband Michael spent living and working among the people of Canar. Very much a personal account of a community undergoing change, Canar documents such activities as plantings and harvests, religious processions, a traditional wedding, healing ceremonies, a death and funeral, and a home birth with a native midwife. Along the way, Blankenship describes how she and Michael went from being outsiders only warily accepted in the community to becoming neighbors and even godparents to some of the local children. She also explains how outside forces, from Ecuador's failing economy to globalization, are disrupting the traditional lifeways of the Canari as economic migration virtually empties highland communities of young people. Blankenship's words and photographs create a moving, intimate portrait of a people trying to balance the demands of the twenty-first century with the traditions that have formed their identity for centuries.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; Lst Ed edition (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292709285
• ISBN-13: 978-0292709287
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,773,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is perfect for the armchair traveler, September 10, 2005

By	Armchair Traveler (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador (Paperback)

I loved reading "Cañar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador," by Judy Blankenship. The book had special meaning for me, being one of those people who dream constantly about living and getting to know other cultures, but alas, manage to get to visit few foreign places. From its opening words the writing gripped me and I traveled with the author every step of the way as she so compellingly wrote about her experiences and her affection for the Cañari people. The expressive photographs that accompany the text transported me even more deeply into a land I will never know for myself. We armchair travelers are endlessly indebted and grateful to artists like Judy Blankenship.

Fraidie Martz

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The writer really puts you in her shoes, August 25, 2008

By	K. Hudson (Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador (Paperback)

Well written book about very interesting people that most of us would never know anything about. I enjoyed reading this book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 6, 2008

By	Andrea Ben-david (Bklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Canar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador (Paperback)

I didn't like the writing style ... Not very insightful .. Many other preferable books about Ecuador and various regions.