A dozen lengthy Quechua songs -- written in colonial manuscripts or taped in communities of Andean peoples-- provide a well rounded and complex portrait of South American Indians in the tropical forest and mountainous regions of the Andes. Methodology drawn from linguistics, literary criticism, and anthropology provides an entry into the Andean world of potatoes, the power of hallucinogenic imagery, weaving and rituals, and the role of women. The Quecha texts are presented in full cultural translations, a textual rewording which uncovers a world of unfamiliar textual cultural values and goes beyond mere semantic equivalence. (Out of print).

Awarded the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for outstanding book in Latin American and Spanish literatures and cultures, M.L.A.
Honorable mention for the Bryce Wood prize in Latin American Studies, L.A.S.A.
Honorable Mention N.E.C.L.A.S. Book Prize

A Spanish translation is available from Ediciones Abya Yala, P.O. Box 17-12-719, Quito, Ecuador. Signos, cantos y memoria en los Andes: Traduciendo la lengua y la cultura quechua, 1994.

The importance of the Indian people in shaping Ecuadorian cultural identity emerges in the analysis of 'foundational' poems written by J.J. Olmedo, J.L.Mera, in studies of the literary magazines of the XIX and XX centuries, and in the fervently militant poetry of J. Carrera Andrade, g.h. Mata and C. Dávila Andrade. Evaluation of Quichua language and culture in the national discourse is provided with references to art, history, the folklore anthology published by J.L. Mera, and legislative proclamations.