Dance in the Cemetery (Hardcover)

by William W. Stein (Author)

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Product Description
This is a biographical study of Jose Carlos Mariategui, one of Latin America's greatest literary figures, which is organized around the Lima scandal of 1917. At the time he was a young journalist of 23, an autodidact intellectual with an insurrectionary character. The scandal erupted when he led a small group to the General Cemetery where a dancer gave her interpretation of Chopin's Funeral March. Although the participants wished to have an artistic experience, the reaction of the Lima elite was negative: the performance was viewed in terms of "lewdness" and "desecration," the participants were arrested, placed in prison, their case was forwarded for criminal prosecution, and the daily newspapers made the most out of the incident. This study focuses on the scandal in the context of Peruvian society in 1917. It examines the roots of Mariategui's rebellion by exploring his manner of dealing with lameness and physical mutilation, the desertion of his family by his father and Mariategui's search for a father figure, his humble Andean roots on his mother's side, and his ambivalence--half yearning, half hostility--toward his father's elite social sector. Throughout the work Mariategui's writings are quoted as illustrations and supplements to points made in the text. The object is to answer the questions: Why a dance? Why a cemetery? And why a dance "in" a cemetery?--by looking at patterns of repetition in Mariategui's life. The study becomes a psychobiography as well as a literary one.

About the Author
William W. Stein is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: University Press of America (June 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761807381
• ISBN-13: 978-0761807384
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,236,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A real fact, September 15, 1998

By A Customer

Some years ago, you and I talked about this subkect. Amauta, then, not only was in full posesion of his mental faculties but infirmity had not yet attacked him. He had not been yet to Russia with the proletariat. He had not yet written the seven essays. he was still an absolute idealist. That is why we call this summary "a real fact" because, for that period, it was most surely one of the greatest scandals protagonized by Peruvian intelectuals of the time. Idealism would become lost afterwards and Jose Carlos, like many others, found himself enveloped in the crude reality of Peru. Hola, profesor Stein; soy Pepe . Colaboré con usted sobre el tema de Atusparia en mi época de SINAMOS. ¿Me recuerda?