Guaman Poma and His Illustrated Chronicle from Colonial Peru: From a Century of Scholarship to a New Era of Reading

by Rolena Adorno

Published on the occasion of the opening of the full digital edition of the autograph manuscript of Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's Nueva coronica y buen gobierno (1615) on the website of the Royal Library, Copenhagen (www.kb.dk/elib/mss/poma/), this new book by one of the world's most prominent Guaman Poma scholars contains a survey, in English and Spanish, of recent research. Guaman Poma dedicated his Chronicle to Philip III, King of Spain, but it has been preserved since the 18th century in the Royal Library, Copenhagen. Rediscovered by modern scholarship in 1908, it was included in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" list in 1999. Written and illustrated by a Christianized native Andean of Southern Peru, several decades after the Spanish conquest, the Nueva coronica is a complex and unique mixture of historiography and utopianism. On one hand, it contains an entirely original framework for Andean historical self-understanding, as an alternative to the colonial viewpoint. On the other hand, based upon vivid written and graphic descriptions of Andean daily life and sufferings under colonial rule, Guaman Poma formulates far-reaching proposals for reform aimed at turning the chaotic viceroyalty into a dynamic self-governed kingdom within the Spanish empire. Guaman Poma envisioned this new order as Christian, but organized in accordance with Andean economic, social, and cultural tradition.

Genres: History

104 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be more direct works of Guaman Poma translated, but it’s more a review of his life and added context to the times. It’s interesting background, but not as substantive as I would have hoped, though maybe there just isn’t much primary work to build off of. Still a peek at the life of an educated native Andean during the 17th century Spanish colonization is interesting and novel in and of itself. Since the primary context is so sparse, I feel like most of this information can be learned via a Wikipedia page.