Birds Without a Nest: A Novel : A Story of Indian Life and Priestly Oppression in Peru (Texas Pan American Series) (Hardcover)

by Clorinda Matto De Turner (Author), J. G. Hudson (Author), Naomi Lindstrom (Translator), J. G. H. (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
This emended translation of Latin America's first indigenista novel (Aves sin nido, 1889), written by Peruvian feminist Matto de Turner, is welcome for many reasons.... It deserves a reading now more than ever, as Latin American literature reaches its maturity, and as social struggles in the Hispanic new world continue with the intensity and irresolution of two centuries. (Choice ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
love, and so I have observed its customs closely, enchanted by their simplicity, and, as well, the abjection into which this race is plunged by small-town despots, who, while their names may change, never fail to live up to the epithet of tyrants. They are no other than, in general, the priests, governors, caciques, and mayors." So wrote Clorinda Matto de Turner in Aves sin nido, the first major Spanish American novel to protest the plight of native peoples. First published in 1889, Birds without a Nest drew fiery protests for its unsparing exposé of small town officials, judicial authorities, and priests who oppressed the native peoples of Peru. Matto de Turner was excommunicated by the Catholic Church and burned in effigy. Yet her novel was strongly influential; indeed, Peruvian President Andrés Avelino Cáceres credited it with stimulating him to pursue needed reforms. In 1904, the novel was published in a bowdlerized English translation with a modified ending. This edition restores the original ending and the translator's omissions. It will be important reading for all students of the indigenous cultures of South America.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 181 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st University of Texas Press ed edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029275194X
• ISBN-13: 978-0292751941
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,681,094 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seldom told story, June 21, 2001

By	Roger Miguel Sulis (Florianópolis, SC Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birds without a Nest: A Novel (Texas Pan American Series) (Paperback)

This woman dared to tell the story of the exploitation of the Quechua people in Peru. She shows through her romance how, the state - in the hands of the hispanic -, the church and the law were united in the colonization of Peru, exploiting the native populations as much as they could, keeping the descendents of the Inca empire either captive or as slave workers. Well a surprising fact, is that this woman wrote the book around 1889 (when it was first published) a time, when a woman writter was not seen with good eyes. She was excommunicated by the bishop and The book was - of course - burnt and remain almost unknown till the late 60's when it was reedicted.

3.0 out of 5 stars Uncle Tom's Cabin in a Peruvian context, May 9, 2007

By	Willet784 "Willet" (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birds without a Nest: A Novel (Texas Pan American Series) (Paperback)

I want to give a rave review for this book, but, unfortunately I can't. Perhaps, it's because this is a translation, but I found the text an overly condescending, pedantic, one-dimensional rip-off of Uncle Tom's Cabin, with Peru's indigenous people in need of the white Peruvians' help, reform and sympathy. Although I am a romantic, I found myself rolling my eyes repeatedly at the descriptions of Manuel's love for Margarita. It's written in a way only a (unredeemably and ridiculously) romantic woman would write about love (I'm a woman, by the way). I also found the use of physical appearance to denote personality--although this is a nineteenth century construct--disturbing.
Although Uncle Tom's Cabin presents all of these issues, Beecher Stowe does it better with multi-dimensional characters and better crafted and linked storylines. Again, this may be due to this being a translation. I think I lost some of the richness of the original, so I'm going to read the text in its original Spanish to see what I think then. Nonetheless, the English translation was disappointing.

PROS: SPOILER AHEAD: The crash
The depiction of the Killac town authorities
The ending, somewhat predictable, but nonetheless good
Interesting view of North American/South American relations

CONS: (in translation): Pedantic, condescending and schmaltzy to the core in its treatment of the protagonists.

4.0 out of 5 stars Birds without a future, October 2, 2005

By	Jaime Gomez Douzet (Chile) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Birds without a Nest: A Novel (Texas Pan American Series) (Paperback)

This novel by Peruvian female writer Clorinda Matto de Turner constitutes the first female narrative fictional text denouncing discrimination of female indians in Peru and perhaps Latin America. It reminds us of what Rigoberta Menchu did in the 90's regarding human right abuses in Guatemala, only that Clorinda did it one hundred years before. The novel, which lacks the stylistic traits of present female narrative, is strong in terms of content and validity as a social document.
Clorinda Matto was a brave woman, daring to represent the medieval rules that structured the lives of indian women (and men) during the 19th century and most of the twentieth century.